McKay opts out of Old Town Long commute tough for football coach

George “Toogie” McKay has decided not to return for a second season as Old Town’s varsity football coach.

The 62-year-old McKay, who had coached at Mount Desert Island High School for 22 years before stepping down after the 2002 season, took over the struggling Old Town program last summer, but the undermanned Coyotes went 0-8 in the Pine Tree Conference Class B ranks this fall.

McKay, who lives in Town Hill on MDI, cited the grind of the 110-mile daily round trip from the island to Old Town, where the retired educator also served as a study-hall monitor, as a primary reason for his decision.

McKay said that from the opening day of preseason practices on Aug. 13 to Old Town’s final regular-season game on Oct. 19, there were only three days when he didn’t make at least the trip to Old Town – and on one of those other days he drove to Sabattus to scout an opponent.

During the first month of the preseason and season alone, he ran up an $800 gasoline bill.

“Three hours behind the wheel each day was more difficult than I thought,” he said. “I misread that. You try to do it because you want to do it, but at my age I’m not handling it as well.”

The veteran coach added that Old Town faces a major challenge in attempting to rebuild a program that has fallen on hard times since its last winning season in 1997.

Declining enrollment and lack of success has resulted in fewer student-athletes participating in the sport – something reflected in the low number of juniors and seniors expected to be part of the program next season.

“To be honest, where they are in terms of rebuilding is probably a longer-term situation,” said McKay. “They need someone who’s charismatic, who’s teaching in the schools and can get kids excited about playing Old Town football.”