Saint Louis convinces
Los Banos to stick around
After a weekend of uncertainty, Todd Los Banos is still the athletic director at Saint Louis School.
Los Banos reportedly told school president Fr. Allen DeLong that he would resign as athletic director on Friday, after just 18 days on the job. But following a meeting yesterday afternoon, Los Banos decided to stay on at the school.
"Our goal is to create the best athletic program we can for our students. We are in the process of evaluating how we can handle administrative situations and decisions in the best interest of our student-athletes," Los Banos said in a statement released by the school.
Los Banos declined to comment on the specifics of his discussion with DeLong. According to multiple sources, a dispute between Los Banos and DeLong over the hiring of a new baseball coach led to Los Banos offering his resignation.
On Friday, Saint Louis spokeswoman Rebecca Fernandes confirmed that Los Banos was considering stepping down, but added that DeLong and Los Banos would meet again to discuss the situation.
"It came down to looking at the issues at hand and understanding how we play our roles here at Saint Louis as administrators," Los Banos said yesterday. "That needed to be clarified and we came to an agreement on how we would handle situations.
"With someone being as new as I am, you have to start on the right foot. I think right now we're starting on the right foot and I'm able to lead the athletic department in a way that's fair and honest."
Los Banos, 39, replaced Cal Lee as athletic director after Lee accepted a position on the University of Hawaii football team's coaching staff. Los Banos' first official day on the job was July 1.
Los Banos coached the Saint Louis wrestling team for seven years and led the Crusaders to state championships in 2001 and 2002. He announced his retirement as coach in April, but remained at the school as a physical education teacher.
DeLong approached Los Banos about filling the athletic director position after Lee decided to become the linebackers coach at UH. Los Banos accepted the job in June, relinquishing his teaching duties.
The school also announced that it has hired Scot Paiva as the Crusaders' new varsity baseball coach yesterday. Paiva, who was among six applicants for the job, was an assistant junior varsity coach in 2000 and a varsity assistant in 2001.