Sinclair to coach Orono football Assistant principal to lead alma mater

Watching her husband cope without coaching football for just a year was enough for Sally Sinclair to set into motion the events which led to Orono High School’s hiring of Bob Sinclair as the school’s new varsity football coach.

“She told me I was miserable without it,” said Bob Sinclair.

Sinclair, who hasn’t been a head coach since he ended his 11-year tenure with Hampden Academy after the 2000 season, returns to the sidelines one year after taking the job of assistant principal at Orono High. The Orono grad (Class of 1972) was an Orono assistant coach in 1981-82, but this is his first time as Red Riots’ head coach.

“I’m fortunate to be able to come back and coach at my alma mater,” he said. “I missed the relationships with the kids. Football is the best game and an area you can really get invested in the kids’ lives. I miss the practices, even though people think I’m crazy. I miss the coaching and the camaraderie with the coaches.”

The rest of the coaching staff will remain virtually unchanged as Don Joseph, Peter Higgins and Orono grad Barry Terrill are all returning.

“I think Orono football benefited from having Wally Covell here to hold the program together,” Sinclair said of the former coach, who resigned after four seasons.

Sinclair doesn’t expect his coaching duties to conflict much with his assistant principal’s responsibilities.

“I don’t think it’ll be a problem to do both jobs, even during the midst of the season,” Sinclair said. “I have great assistants who can start practice with no problem if I have to take care of something at school.”

All of Sinclair’s children have attended Orono – Robbie (28), Debbie (25), Derek (21) and youngest child Tyler (15), who will start his freshman year this fall. Only Sally can claim non-Orono alumni status as a Bangor grad.

Sinclair, who is convinced former pigskin power Orono can be successful after several lean years, is re-establishing a freshman football program, which hasn’t been around since the early 1990s.

“We have 28 people signed up for varsity ball and we’re hoping for 16 in freshman,” said the former John Bapst head football coach (1984-1989) who will run the Oklahoma split-T offense and operate out of a base “50” (five-man front) on defense. “I think it’s real important to have a freshman team to be competitive and develop the program.”