Few programs in New York City have as many questions heading into the 2026 PSAL football season as the Canarsie High School Wolfpack.
After enduring a winless 0-8 campaign in 2025, the Wolfpack now finds themselves searching for answers once again. What was supposed to be the beginning of a rebuild under Coach Ronald Sears quickly came to an end, as the school parted ways with him after just one season. Reports throughout the offseason suggested that much of the coaching staff also departed alongside Sears, leaving the program in a difficult position entering one of the most important offseasons in recent memory.
Now, according to the PSAL coaching directory, Canarsie has officially turned the page by naming Damek Mair as its new head football coach.
While the hiring certainly brings fresh energy, it also raises plenty of questions.
Based on publicly available PSAL coaching records, Mair has experience coaching boys basketball at Clara Barton High School and boys bowling at South Shore High School. However, there is no listed experience as either a varsity football head coach or assistant coach within the PSAL.
That doesn’t mean he can’t succeed.
Some of the best coaches in sports have come from unconventional backgrounds, bringing leadership, organization, and culture-building skills from other sports. Basketball coaches often understand spacing, player development, communication, and game management. Those qualities can certainly translate to football—provided the staff around them has the necessary football experience.
That will likely be the biggest storyline to watch.
Building a Program Before Winning Games
Winning football games may not be Canarsie’s first challenge.
Before talking about playoff aspirations or improving the win-loss column, the Wolfpack must establish stability.
Canarsie has to rebuild confidence within its locker room, assemble a complete coaching staff, retain players who stayed committed through last year’s struggles, and convince new student-athletes that the program is headed in the right direction.
Programs coming off winless seasons often face more than just on-field issues. Player participation can decline. Morale can suffer. Recruiting students within the school becomes increasingly difficult when success has been absent.
The first victory for Coach Mair may simply be fielding a competitive, disciplined football team every Friday night.
Will There Be a Football Season?
Perhaps the biggest question surrounding the Wolfpack isn’t how many games they’ll win.
It’s whether the program can fully stabilize in time for the season.
With significant coaching turnover, uncertainty surrounding the roster, and an entirely new leadership group taking over, many around NYC football are asking the same question:
Will Canarsie be ready to compete this fall?
The answer won’t come from social media or offseason speculation.
It will come from summer workouts, player attendance, coaching continuity, and whether the Wolfpack can establish an identity before opening kickoff.
A Proud Program Looking for New Life
Despite last season’s struggles, Canarsie remains one of Brooklyn’s recognizable football programs. The school has produced talented athletes over the years and has been home to teams that competed with pride throughout the PSAL.
History, however, doesn’t win football games.
The Wolfpack now have an opportunity to write a new chapter.
Whether Coach Damek Mair proves to be the right person for the job remains to be seen, but every successful rebuild starts with leadership, accountability, and belief. Those are qualities Canarsie will need immediately if they hope to climb out of the bottom of the standings.
The road back won’t be easy.
In a PSAL landscape where programs such as Erasmus Hall, South Shore, Abraham Lincoln, Sheepshead Bay, and others continue to raise the standard of competition, the margin for error is incredibly small. Every practice, every offseason workout, and every player retained will matter.
For now, the Wolfpack enter 2026 as one of the biggest mysteries in New York City high school football.
The coaching hire has been made.
Now comes the hard part.
Can Canarsie rebuild its culture, restore confidence, and prove that last season was merely a setback?
Only time will tell, but one thing is certain—the eyes of the NYC football community will be watching.