OLD TOWN – Give credit to George McKay.

In one of the bleakest hours of the history of the Old Town High School football program, the new coach of the Coyotes – and 22-year coach of Mount Desert Island High School – sees a bright future on the horizon for this team.

It is just going to take some time and effort to get Old Town consistently competitive again.

“My basic claim to fame is that I’ve coached more games in the (LTC) than any other coach in the league so this is not my first rodeo and this is also not the first time that my team is coming off of some difficult seasons and all that sort of stuff,” said McKay, who retired as MDI coach four years ago.

“I know the byword right now is patience to some degree and it’s a building process.”

McKay knew he was getting himself into a complex situation when he applied for the head coaching vacancy at Old Town.

He was taking over a program that has a 3-22 record in the past three seasons and is coming off a controversy that ended head coach Peter Kenney’s tenure after one season.

The last time the Coyotes won a game was Oct. 1, 2005, when they beat Marancook 32-20 in Readfield, and they haven’t won at home since beating MDI 12-6 on Oct. 1, 2004.

McKay is taking over a team that has 17 varsity players – including three starting freshmen linemen – suited up fort the start of Old Town’s scrimmage against Orono on Aug. 24.

“Obviously we’re stop-gapped right now and hurting for numbers,” McKay said. “We’re, at the varsity level, we don’t have the quality depth that allows you to be a contender in Class B football. That’ a fact … it’s not something that you argue about.”

By far his biggest challenge will be getting his team to believe in themselves.

“To be honest, as I was applying for [the coaching position], there were times when I said, ‘Do I really want to do this?'” McKay said. “What I’ve run in to here is, it’s funny, because these are some really great kids and the kids I dealt with this summer are really hard workers. … They just don’t believe in themselves. They’re too willing to say, ‘Oh, here we go again.’ And so we’re fighting a mental thing more than anything here.”

In the Coyotes’ scrimmage against Orono, won by the Red Riots 42-0, there was a turning point midway through the second quarter which gave McKay some hope.

After being dominated early and falling behind by two scores, Old Town looked like it was about to make its stand and get back in the game.

The offense put a small drive together, picking up three first downs, and the defense finally stopped Orono.

But a miscue on a punt return – something McKay blames on himself for not doing a better job preparing his returner – and a fumble led to the Red Riots to another score. After that, the Coyotes played flat and never seemed to get on a roll again.

“The peaks and valleys, they say in athletics don’t get too high when you do something good and don’t get low when it goes bad,” McKay said. “Right now we’re having a tendency to get really low when it goes bad.”

“We’ve got to find some way to flatten that out a little bit and make them understand that it is possible to overcome the adversity. You don’t hang your head when you’re down 14-0. You make your stand and get back in it.”

If McKay can change the mental outlook of the Coyotes, the numbers will get better with large classes at the freshman and even middle school levels.

It’s just going to take a lot of work – and a little patience.

OLD TOWN COYOTES

2006 results: 0-8, 0-5 Pine Tree North

Head coach: George McKay (23rd year, 1st in Old Town)

Outlook: Old Town, which has only one win in the last two seasons, lacks the quality depth that would allow the Coyotes to stay competitive in the Pine Tree North division. Staying healthy may become a bigger concern than earning wins toward the end of the season.