[ HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL ]
Saint Louis moving on
without Arceneaux
Former Saint Louis football coach Darnell Arceneaux said goodbye to his players yesterday in a meeting at the school.
Arceneaux, 26, resigned Wednesday, saying he didn't want to coach unless the school hired him as a teacher.
Athletic director Todd Los Baños said yesterday there aren't any positions open.
"Darnell did a good job," Los Baños said. "But it's not my job to hire teachers. It's my job to hire coaches. I don't know what the school administration told Darnell, other than that there are no positions available."
Saint Louis spokesperson Rebecca Fernandes said that just because a person is coaching a sport doesn't obligate the school to hire that person as a teacher.
When he was hired to coach in June, Arceneaux was under the impression he would eventually be hired as a teacher, too, he said.
Los Baños said he listened to Arceneaux's concerns about a week and a half ago and wasn't totally surprised about Wednesday's resignation.
"It's hard to lose a coach and go through another change," Los Baños said. "But we've got to move on."
He hopes to hire a new coach -- Saint Louis' fourth in four seasons -- before the end of the school year.
"I'm taking applications," he said. "And I have somebody in mind."
Crusaders defensive end Tyson Alualu returns for his senior season in the fall. He said he will miss the departing coach.
"It's gonna be hard to get over, but I think we'll get through it," Alualu said. "He's a good coach and we're going to have to come together even more as a team.
"He (Arceneaux) told us that we're a good bunch of guys and that it was a pleasure to coach us, but that he had to do his own thing."
Parents of some players discussed their frustrations at an impromptu meeting yesterday, according to Aleta Bain, mother of wide receiver Aaron Bain.
"It was upsetting to some," she said. "They're thinking, 'Here we go again.' The best thing we can do is be prepared. I'm optimistic that whatever choice they make for a new coach will be a good one. But it's not about coaches as much as it is about our boys. They're starting from scratch all the time."