Chabot football coach Eric Fanene sounds rejuvenated, energized.

"I'm excited, man. I'm excited to get rolling," he said this week.

Chabot's new season will begin with a nonconference game against Siskiyous at 5 p.m. Saturday at Gladiator Stadium.

The Gladiators are coming off an injury-plagued season, in which they went 2-8 overall and 0-5 in the National-Bay 6 Conference — one year after the 2020 season was wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chabot did some fine-tuning in a scrimmage against Foothill Junior College last week, when players enjoyed getting a chance to hit someone in a different jersey color.

"We're young, we're trying to get a lot of different guys playing time to see what they can do," Fanene said of the scrimmage. "… It was good work for us. I always like seeing our offense go against another defense."

Returning quarterback Kekoa Tarangan (Leilehua High-Hawaii), who started a couple games last season, is looking "really good," Fanene said. "He's our leader, he's our captain, he's done a great job getting himself stronger, his arm stronger, so we're looking to see him do some good stuff."

The Gladiators' offensive line looks stout, led by left tackle Esa Pole (Mt. Eden), a highly recruited 6-foot-7, 320-pound Division I prospect, and center Chris Mcalpine (6-3, 300), who returned right before the summer after transferring midyear to Missouri Western State University.

"We have two guys back together who were really good for us last year," Fanene said of Pole and Mcalpine. "They're looking good. They're both Division I prospects and play like Division I prospects. We're happy to have them. Our O-line is doing looking pretty good."

Change is in the air in the program, which has a new offense and defense after some key coaching changes.

Former offensive coordinator George Zuber and longtime defensive coordinator Jerome Manos both exited after last season — Zuber to focus on getting his Master's degree and Manos for family reasons, Fanene said.

In a jarring sequence, after Manos bowed out Fanene appointed someone else to run the defense but that person got a job at a four-year program.

"So it was like boom-boom, within three months I lost two D-coordinators, and so I went back to defense," Fanene said.

Fanene is now the head coach/defensive coordinator and young Marcus Blacksher Jr., a former Santa Rosa receivers coach and Galileo head coach, has been promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator.

"I gave him the keys to the Ferrari, I guess," Fanene quipped.

Defensive line coach Tony Pole, Esa's older brother, played at Logan, Washington State and in the NFL. He has been a big asset in terms of strength and conditioning.

"The games start in the weight room, the discipline, everything you do happens in the weight room," Fanene said. "He had those guys all spring, and Tony did a great job with those dudes."

Two years of restrictions during the pandemic took its toll on Fanene. Players missed vital time in the weight room, which undoubtedly played a part in the team's injury woes last season.

"We were decimated last year," Fanene said. "After Game 2, we had 26-28 guys on the IR. We had one of the best O-lines I've seen in junior college just get taken apart with injuries. There were concussions, just the soft tissue injuries that these guys wouldn't have had if there was an offseason weight room. My goal every year is we need to be healthy when we get into the Bay 6."

Now Fanene has a greater influence in all aspects of coaching the team, which fuels him. It's his baby this year.

"This will be the tell-all where we're doing everything that I want to do on offense and defense," he says.

The defense has been hit by injuries in the spring and some key departures on the defensive line, but the offense is "pretty stout, pretty stacked and pretty deep," Fanene says.

In a blow they lost starting running back Michael Quinteros (Dublin), who suffered a torn ACL in the "Black and Gold" scrimmage.

Then again, running back Ismael Sanchez (San Leandro), the other half of the one-two punch with Quinteros, looked good in the scrimmage and other runners have stepped up.

Dane Moun, a slot receiver out of Servite, is going to be "special for us," Fanene said. Wideout Dillon Garcia (Jefferson High) has been lighting it up.

On the defensive side, returning all-conference tackle Robert Porter, a tackle out of Granada, and Alejandro Tovar (Logan) are key returners, along with tackle Opeti Fangupo (St. Francis), who has a big upside.

Linebacker Kingston Sapoi (Kearns-Utah) is another stalwart. Defensive captain Pate Haunga (Luther Burbank), an all-conference tight end last year, is out for about five weeks after tearing a ligament during a freak accident in summer camp, which required surgery.

Chabot is pretty deep at defensive back with redshirt Douglas Turner (Washington) and returner Aukai Grace (Moanalua-Hawaii), a strong safety, who tore his labrum against CCSF last year and was lost for the season. Eric Johnson (Washington) is also looking "really good," Fanene said.

Looking ahead to Bay 6 play, Fanene is ruling nothing out. The conference boasts the likes of state preseason No. 1 CCSF, along with College of San Mateo, Laney, and Diablo Valley, teams ranked in the top 17 in a preseason poll.

"The only thing you need to be going into the Bay 6 is healthy," he declared. "We've been around so many championships here at Chabot, since I've been here we've won like six. Even when we're not in the Bay 6, when we're in the Valley, who's the healthiest going into conference."