During the last four summers, Ron Whitcomb has spent many hot days in the parking lot of the Home Depot in Bangor.

Inside a converted truck that houses a business called “Freedom Franks,” the University of Maine senior grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, and Italian sausages for hungry customers.

On Sunday, Whitcomb will begin working with numerous ‘ingredients” in the hope of cooking up some touchdowns in a new “spread” offense as the Black Bear football team reports to Orono for preseason workouts.

Coach Jack Cosgrove’s UMaine squad hits the practice field Monday at 3 p.m. to begin four weeks of preparations for its Sept. 9 Division I-AA season opener at seventh-ranked Youngstown State (Ohio).

“It’s pretty much the best time of a lot of our lives, going into our senior year, having 15 guys coming together and just being excited about putting it together one more time,” Whitcomb said Friday as he returned from his home in East Rochester, N.Y.

“I typically go home the week before camp starts and kind of come back fresh,” he explained.

UMaine is coming off a 5-6 season (3-5 Atlantic 10) during which it began transitioning from its traditional I-based offensive scheme into the spread, which is designed to do just that to opposing defenses.

The new offense will be in the hands of Whitcomb, a seasoned quarterback who heads into the 2006 campaign chasing four UMaine career passing records.

The 6-foot-2, 208-pounder needs only 41 completions, 168 attempts, and nine touchdowns to move into first place among the program’s elite passers. Whitcomb also needs 1,527 yards to overtake Mike Buck (8,457 yards, 1986-89) as the Bears’ most prolific passer ever.

Whitcomb didn’t waste any down time while serving as a lunch wagon cook. When business was slow, he fired up his laptop computer and studied his football playbook. He also watched film from last season.

“It was a great summer job,” said Whitcomb, whose substitute was UMaine backup quarterback Michael Brusko. “He might be taking over the QB tradition [at Freedom Franks].”

Whitcomb again remained in Orono for the summer in order to work and work out. He ran, lifted weights, and threw passes to some of his teammates to refine his game.

Whitcomb has been pleased with the commitment of the numerous Black Bears who chose to live in the area during the summer in an effort to improve themselves heading into the season.

“Out of the four summers that I’ve been here, we had by far the most people,” Whitcomb said. “This summer was unbelievable.”

The extra throwing and catching practice enables the quarterbacks and receivers to develop more precise timing and achieve an increased comfort level that should help them hit the ground running during training camp. That is of extra importance this season.

“We have a big group of receivers coming in because we lost all those senior receivers, and they actually came up for a week, learned the playbook, started running routes with myself and Michael,” Whitcomb said. “We even had the new quarterback [Adam Farkes] come up.”

Whitcomb is confident all the hard work will pay off once the Bears finally take the field next week.

Bears release practice schedule

From Monday through Friday, UMaine will go through single morning practice sessions lasting an hour and 20 minutes before undertaking the first of seven scheduled double-session days on Aug. 19. The Bears have scheduled scrimmages for Aug. 21, 25, and 29, each of which is slated to begin at 3:35 p.m.

Fans are invited to attend all practices, although they are encouraged to check the “Maine Football Fan Guide” link on the UMaine Web site at GoBlackBears.com for up-to-date practice times.

UMaine, picked to finish third this season behind New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the Atlantic 10 North Division, is hoping to develop a potent offense that will complement what is expected to be a stingy defense.