Kenilvort Steps Down as Drake Football Coach

If coaching high school football paid the bills, no doubt would be returning for his fourth season with the team this fall.

Alas, it doesn’t – not even close – so the popular Kenilvort has stepped down in order to give more time to his job at Golden Gate Disposal.

“I just don’t have enough time (for both jobs),” he admitted Wednesday. “I had a great time (at Drake). It was a great group. I worked with some great coaches who were very dedicated. It’s been a positive experience for me.

“I’d like to come back and help out when this work crisis is over.”

The aforementioned crisis is Golden Gate Disposal’s ongoing contract dispute with the City of San Francisco.

Kenilvort already had been getting up in the middle of the night just to be able to get off work at 2 p.m., which allowed him to get to football practice on time. But the dispute has caused his hours to increase, and he found it interfering with his work with the Pirates.

And when his two worlds collided, there was no question which would prevail.

“I was under a lot of stress,” he admitted. “I had already taken a step back (in the coaching), letting (assistants) Ethan (Hough) and Mike Martinez run things. They would show up and have a lot of energy. I was burnt out. I was an anchor there for a while.”

Kenilvort, whose teams won nine of 31 games in his three seasons, is pushing for Hough to be his fulltime replacement.

The former Drake quarterback spent the past three seasons at San Rafael High, but he contacted Kenilvort during the off-season after hearing a position might be open with the Pirates.

He was hired initially to be the Pirates' junior varsity coordinator.

“He’s really helped me out over the off-season,” Kenilvort said of the Class of 1992 graduate. “He proved to me he could be a nice little head coach. He’s very organized. He walks around with a laptop.”

Kenilvort, whose son plays on the Drake team, said he had tentatively agreed to allow Hough to run the show even if he had stuck around. But his recent workload made even a part-time commitment improbable.

Kenilvort resigned almost two-and-a-half weeks ago and Hough has been running summer drills. Son Brandon has given his dad a daily report.

“He says things are going very well,” Kenilvort noted. “Our summer workouts are going on as planned.”

Drake athletic director Pete Donoff disclosed Wednesday night his hands are temporarily tied in terms of interviewing prospective replacements.

First off, a Tamalpais Union High School District rule mandates that a district administrator be present at all interviews. But most Tam District employees are on summer vacation until Aug. 1.

Also, Donoff said the open position must be posted on the district website. However, the website administrator also is on vacation, stalling that process.

So Donoff finds himself looking back rather than forward.

"I want to personally thank Dan for all he did for the Drake program," the boss gushed. "Sure, everyone would like to win more games. But I wouldn't trade anything for what Dan has meant to Drake the last three years.

"He turned the football program around. He's a real values kind of guy. His attitude was great and the players loved playing for him."

Drake's first 2011 game is scheduled for Sept. 2 at San Rafael.