Withee says no to Brewer> Coach stays in Foxcroft

After countless hours of soul-searching, mental wrestling matches, and playing point-counterpoint, the man that Brewer High School hoped would lead its football program into the 21st century has turned the job down.

Foxcroft Academy coach Paul Withee notified Brewer Superintendent Allan Snell about his decision Wednesday afternoon.

Withee said the decision has been an extremely difficult one.

“It took me a tremendous amount of sleepless nights to make this decision, but I’m not looking back,” Withee said. “I flipped coins, I made lists a mile long of pros and cons… It really came down to a number of factors… I’m still thinking, `Did I make the right decision?’ ”

Withee, who confirmed he was offered the job in addition to a math teaching position at the high school, said his decision to stay came down to two major factors.

“A lot had to with my family, although my wife [LeAnn] was very, very supportive,” Withee said. “She liked the prospect of moving to a different community, but my son Josh is in middle school – and he didn’t want to move – and my daughter Courtney is getting done kindergarten.

“But the primary reason, I think, was the current housing market. We had a house in Sanford when I moved [to Dover-Foxcroft] and we couldn’t sell it. We were renting up here and paying for the house down there at the same time, and I didn’t want to go through that nightmare again.”

Withee said another reason for staying was the chance to coach a group of young players – including his son – he thinks can be as good or better than the last two graduating classes, which produced back-to-back Eastern Maine titles the last two years and a 1996 state Class C championship.

The 39-year-old coach said the fact he recently finished leading a drive that raised $7,500 for a youth football program also made it difficult to justify leaving the Ponies.

“We really do love it here, and we’ve got a great circle of family and friends and we have a lot of fun together, so that factor played into it also,” Withee said.

Withee, who has led the Ponies to a 53-30 record and five playoff appearances in seven years as coach, was very complimentary toward Brewer’s search committee.

“They did an outstanding job. They really swept me off my feet as far as trying to get me to come over,” Withee said. “I really do wish Allan and [athletic director] Dennis [Kiah] the best of luck to find a new coach and I really think the new coach has a golden opportunity there.”

Attempts to reach Snell, and principal Jerry Goss were unsuccessful. Kiah declined to comment on the football search Friday afternoon.

Withee still has aspirations to coach in Class A.

“I’d love to take that challenge of coaching in Class A, but it’s not the right time for me right now,” he said. “I probably will think about this decision for a number of years. I have no regrets, but in two or three years’ time, I might be able to say yes, that was the right decision or no, that wasn’t.”

In other coaching news, Orono is still searching for a new varsity football coach.

“We’re still actively involved in the whole process,” said acting athletic director Bob Lucy. “We’re still taking applications and we’re hopeful of being able to name a coach by the end of the school year.”

Lucy said he is also interviewing candidates who have applied to replace Tim McCluskey, who resigned after one season to concentrate on getting his master’s degree this summer and securing a teaching job.

Although the last day of regular classes at Orono is June 20, Lucy said, “There’s really no real specific deadline in mind right now.”