Callahan to coach Houlton hoop

Nine years after graduating from college with the ultimate goal of landing a varsity basketball coaching position, Sean Callahan has landed his dream job – and Houlton has found a new coach.

The former Brunswick High School and University of Maine-Farmington player was confirmed by Houlton’s school board Tuesday night as the Shiretowners’ new boys hoop coach.

“I’m extremely excited. It’s going to be some hard work, but I’m looking forward to it,” said Callahan, who graduated from Brunswick in 1989. “When I made the decision to leave Boston and come back to Maine and teach, along with that was the goal to coach varsity basketball.”

Callahan was one of nine candidates for the position, which was opened up by the SAD 29 school board for the express purpose of conducting a wider-than-normal search for the best possible candidates. The position was opened up after a disappointing 7-11 season in which concerns were raised about sportsmanship issues.

Those concerns resulted from a late-December game in which three technical fouls were issued to Houlton players at a game in Ellsworth.

“My take on this is the administration wants a change in the attitude and perception of Houlton basketball first and foremost,” Callahan said. “And two things will be the most challenging.

“First is changing the overall attitude this team puts out and is perceived by the public. We need to go on the court, play hard, and respect our opponent and the spirit of competition at the same time. Second is to take a young team with little experience and mold them into a competitive squad. We’re going to have some growing pains early in that sense.”

Callahan, who teaches social sciences at Houlton High School, is familiar with Houlton’s young talent as he has spent the last two years as the eighth-grade boys basketball coach. Before that, he coached the seventh-grade team. He also spent a year as a freshman coach at Wiscasset.

The 30-year-old Callahan replaces Jerry Adams, who compiled a 74-45 record in six seasons with Houlton. Adams, who eclipsed the 100-win mark in career coaching wins last season, led the Shires to five appearances in the Eastern Maine tournament.

Adams is believed to have been one of the eight other applicants.

Callahan has lived in Houlton for three years since returning to Maine from Emerson College. He and his wife Emily have a 2-month-old son named Liam.

“I still had about six hours left to complete to get my teaching certificate when I interviewed for my teaching job and they took a chance on me, so this area been very good to me,” said Callahan, who earned a geography degree from UMF.