ALBANY — Despite a last-minute coaching shakeup, the Albany Empire are going about their business as usual ahead of their season opener Sunday.
Coach Tom Menas, who won back-to-back titles in Albany, was let go last week because the team was looking to go in a different direction, according to Mike Kwarta, who owns the Empire along with former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown.
Brown, whose career has been marred by off-the-field controversies, purchased his stake in the Empire in March.
Damon Ware, the offensive coordinator in two championship seasons with the team, was promoted to head coach and didn’t miss a beat, players said.
“Everyone misses (Menas) here but it’s a business and stuff, so thank God we had coach Ware with us and he was our guy as well, so it was no drop off,” linebacker Nick Haag said.
“I think it came as a little bit of a shock to some of us, but we got a lot of faith in coach Ware,” said quarterback Sam Castronova, an all-National Arena League first-team pick last season.
The coaching change is the most substantial way the new ownership has made itself felt on the football field.
Antonio Brown and father Eddie Brown, who played for the Albany Firebirds in the 1990s and was named vice president of operations, “were definitely around at the beginning of camp,” Ware said. “I know they’re busy trying to get sponsorships and ticket sales and all the things that the front office does.”
For the players, the focus is all football.
“We let them handle their business up there, and we just take care of what we take care of on the field. As football players, we can’t really worry about the ownership group and what they all got going on. Our job is to come here and put on a show for the fans and win games and win championships,” said 2022 MVP wide receiver…
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