Come next fall, Carmen DePoalo will no longer be the head football coach at Schenectady High School.
“The decision was really made for me,” DePoalo said in a telephone interview. “Obviously, I’m not a teacher, and a teacher wanted the job. Through all that, and the testing of the union, they felt they had a case that the teacher should get the job.
“I was looking for one more year, and it didn’t happen.”
DePoalo, 73, coached at Schenectady for seven seasons, but has coached between the high school and youth levels for over 50 years.
“It is what it is,” DePoalo said. “I think there’s a special bunch of kids that are going to be there, and it’s a little heartbreaking. We had a good run, 55 years of [coaching], so it’s probably for the best to get out.”
Schenectady High School football coach Carmen DePoalo watches early offensive drills STAN HUDY/THE DAILY GAZETTE
The Schenectady City School District has not yet announced who the new coach will be, aside from DePoalo announcing that it won’t be him.
DePoalo, who is now retired, spent 27 years working as the Business Agent for Local 301 at Schenectady.
“I understand unions and I understand the way they work,” DePoalo said. “Being a union guy, let's just say I disagree, but I understand as well. … Unfortunately, the cards didn’t fall in my place, and I couldn’t make it happen.”
Now, with a lot more time on his hands, DePoalo knows how he’s going to spend it.
“I’ve got grandchildren who are playing sports now,” he said. “I actually went and watched my first great grandson play in a t-ball the other day, so that was fun. I think that’s what we're going to do, start enjoying some things with our grandkids, since my family always took a back seat. I’m trying to put them in the front seat now.”