Three years ago, in the aftermath of a stormy, scandalous season that cost the Skaneateles football team a shot at championship glory, the Lakers won a Section III title no one could take away.
Joe Sindoni was the head coach of that Lakers team in 2012, but then left to try and rebuild the program at Cicero-North Syracuse, little imagining that he would return to Skaneateles.
But that’s exactly what has taken place. Two months after an abrupt dismissal at C-NS, Sindoni was appointed for a second stint as the Skaneateles varsity football coach, upon approval by the school board last Tuesday night.
Mike Olley had served as the Lakers’ head coach in 2013 and ’14, just as it returned from Class C, where it took the sectional title, to Class B, where competition proved tougher, though Skaneateles made the sectional playoffs each of the last two years.
But Olley had maintained his teacher’s position at Liverpool, where he had coached girls basketball and served as an assistant on the football team. What’s more, Olley has begun work on getting an administrative degree, which added time constraints.
This happened as Sindoni, who had steadily improved C-NS in his two seasons at the helm, was let go. Reports stated that administrators in that district were upset that Sindoni, a Christian Brothers Academy graduate and former assistant coach at that school, had interviewed for the vacant head coaching job for the Brothers, which went to Casey Brown.
Originally, the plan for Sindoni was to assist Olley, but with all of his other duties, Olley decided to relinquish head coaching duties, paving the way for Sindoni’s return – with Olley still on hand as an assistant.
