[ HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS ]
Tengan back at the helm
He accepts the football coaching job
at Saint Louis again
Delbert Tengan is returning as the head coach of the Saint Louis football team, athletic director Todd Los Banos said yesterday.
Tengan, 43, will also continue as the head basketball coach. He replaces 26-year-old Darnell Arceneaux, who spent one year on the job before resigning May 5.
"I think I've got a better handle on being able to coach two sports," Tengan said. "I've had a long offseason in football. I've been able to recharge my batteries and I'm excited to come back. My assistants and I are going to roll up our sleeves and get to work."
Tengan left the head football job in April 2003 after only one season, citing the difficulty of coaching two sports at the high-profile school.
"When he stepped down, a lot of people around Saint Louis weren't really happy," Los Banos said. "But he needed to take a break from the burnout. I think now he has a better plan on doing both jobs and maintaining the responsibilities without feeling overburdened. He's a detailed person and he's always looking at how he can do things better."
Los Banos and the rest of the Saint Louis administration avoided a long, drawn-out two-month search like the one that resulted in the hiring of Arceneaux last June.
Los Banos said it wasn't as easy as it sounds to get Tengan back into the fold.
"It took some time and some massaging," Los Banos said, "but we think the kids deserve a good coach like Delbert. We think the families of the kids are very happy with the choice."
Los Banos gave Tengan the freedom to assemble his own staff and that was the major factor in the coach's decision.
"It was sudden when Darnell decided not to return and any AD could have panicked, but Todd came to me and asked me to consider it," Tengan said. "So I talked to the assistants I had in mind one by one and they were all enthusiastic about coming back. They're high-quality coaches and most of them graduated and played for Saint Louis. Inside, they're red and blue and their loyal ties to the school always seem to win over."
Tengan's assistants are Shawn Kalima, Sam Downey, Jacob Yoro and Junior Wong on defense, and John Hao, Billy Duarte, Reid Hasegawa, Craig Stutzmann, Vinny Passas and Polou Malepeai on offense.