Five games into the 2025 season and the Massachusetts Pirates have made a change at head coach.

On Wednesday, the Pirates announced that they relived Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator Fred Griggs after a 2-3 start to the season. The Pirates are replacing Griggs with veteran Arena Football coach Tom Menas. 

Menas will be filling both roles. He began this year as the Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator of the San Antonio Gunslingers. Like Griggs, he too was relieved of his duties after a 1-1 start to this season. Menas becomes the eighth head coach in the history of the Pirates.

Menas said in a statement from the team that he is looking forward to the challenge of taking over the Pirates.

“I am honored and humbled to be the new Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator of such a great organization,” Menas said. “I look forward to a very competitive season ahead with the players and coaches that I have been given the opportunity to be a part of. My stewardship is to maintain and surpass the historic winning success of the Pirates. I am excited to meet the fans of the Pirates and the community in general.”

Before joining San Antonio, Menas was the Head Coach and General Manager of the Albany Empire of the National Arena League and led the franchise to back-to-back championships in 2021 and 2022.

Menas has worked as an assistant coach in several leagues during his career. From 2020-2021, he was an Assistant Head Coach with the New Jersey Flight in the NAL. His first experience in the IFL was with the Green Bay Blizzard in 2019 as an offensive and defensive line coach. He also served as a Head Coach in the Rivals Professional Football League as well. 

Menas, a Lapeer, Michigan native won a NCFA National Championship as the Head Coach of Oakland University after leading the Golden Grizzlies to a record of 23-1 from 2015 through 2017.

Menas has also coached in the CFL. He was the defensive line coach of the Toronto Argonauts from 2003 through 2005, winning a Grey Cup Championship in 2004. He also coached with the Detroit Fury of the Arena Football League from 2000-2002 as a running backs and linebackers coach.

Menas has a distinguished playing career as well. He played guard at Kansas State University (1978-1983) where he helped the Wildcats to their first-ever Bowl appearance. He then played for the Detroit Lions in 1983, but an injury cut short his NFL career. After his release by Detroit, he signed with the San Antonio Gunslingers of the USFL, where he played with the franchise through 1985.