BELFAST – When Butch Arthers arrived at Belfast Area High School in 1990, he thought his coaching career was over.

But in many respects it was just beginning.

Arthers, who went on to guide Belfast to three Class B state championships and six Eastern Maine titles in 16 years as the school’s varsity football coach, recently announced his retirement from the post.

The decision, six years after he also became the school’s principal, coincides with the final year of football at Belfast for his youngest son, Jake, who has been the Lions’ starting quarterback in recent years.

Arthers will hand his share of the coaching reins to Butch Richards, who has worked with Arthers since he took over the program in 1992 and has served as co-coach since Arthers became principal in 2001.

“I feel very fortunate to be in Belfast and to have had the opportunity to coach while being an administrator,” said Arthers. “It’s something a lot of communities would not have allowed, but I’m grateful for the opportunity the powers that be gave me.”

The 53-year-old Arthers compiled a 111-58 record as Belfast?s head coach and guided the Lions to postseason play in each of the last 14 years.

Arthers began coaching in 1976 while student teaching at Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln, where he was a two-way tackle during his playing days. He got his first teaching job at MA the next year and continued to work under Lynx head coach Dale Curry for six more seasons.

Arthers then moved to southern Maine where he taught and coached under the legendary Rod Wotton at Marshwood High School in South Berwick. During Arthers’ seven years at Marshwood, the Hawks won six state championships – four in Class C, two in Class B and the 1989 Class A title.

Arthers eventually sought to move back north, and in 1990 he was hired as activities/athletic director at Belfast.

Arthers didn’t expect to coach, however, as he was replacing someone who had served as both football coach and athletic director during a tumultuous time in the program.

“I thought my coaching career was over,” said Arthers, “except for some Little League.”

But two years later, Arthers was asked to consider becoming the Lions’ coach. He accepted, added Richards to his staff, and they joined with former head coach Hal Halliday to form the nucleus of a staff that rebuilt the program.

“People who followed football in the community had a taste of winning championships back in the late ’60s when [Harold] Tank Violette was coaching here, but there had been quite a dry spell since we had a championship-caliber team,” said Arthers. “I talked to a lot of folks here who had followed the football team, and what I heard was that there had been a lot of good individual talent, but the teams didn’t seem to jell.”

Richards became the offensive coordinator, Halliday was put in charge of the defense and Arthers mobilized special teams as well as the team’s spirit.

“I was the cheerleader,” he said. “One of our big sayings was ‘believe.’ We really worked to inspire the kids. We did a lot of goal setting back then, and we eventually got to the point where the kids had a lot more confidence in what they were doing.”

Arthers’ third year with the Lions produced the team’s first playoff berth, as well as what he considered the pivotal moment in the program’s rebirth.

That came against perennial power Winslow, when quarterback Dickie Gould took a botched handoff on fourth down and ran into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.

“That was a huge win over a quality opponent, one that catapulted our program,” said Arthers. “From that point on, the kids started to believe they could compete against the top teams.”

Belfast advanced to the playoffs before losing a 30-14 semifinal to eventual state champion Orono and finished with a 7-3 record.

It only got better. The Lions knocked off Orono for the first time since 1982 in Week 4 of the 1995 season and defeated the Red Riots again in the LTC Class B final for their first title since 1968.

That was the first of three straight regional titles and four in five years, a run highlighted by state championships in 1996 and 1999.

Arthers’ coaching career reached another crossroads in 2001 when he was named Belfast’s principal, but under an arrangement in which Richards was named co-coach, he maintained his coaching duties.

The Lions went on to win back-to-back Eastern Maine titles in 2002 and 2003 and won their third state championship under Arthers in 2003.

“Luck has a lot to do with it, along with hard work,” said Arthers. “But a lot of it is having the kids believe in themselves and what they’re doing. If they don’t believe in what their capabilities are, it will never happen.”

Arthers plans to remain close to the Belfast program despite removing himself from the day-to-day operations, and he wants to assist Richards in any way he can.

“I’ve realized over the years that I just have a passion for coaching,” he said. “You feel like you’re a kid when you’re coaching.”

“When I retire from being principal, hopefully I’ll be able to find someone to coach with again.”

BUTCH ARTHERS RECORD

AS BELFAST COACH

1992: 2-7

1993: 3-6

1994: 7-3 (LTC Class B semifinalist)

1995: 10-2 (LTC Class B champion)

1996: 11-1 (Class B state champion)

1997: 6-6 (LTC Class B champion)

1998: 8-3 (LTC Class B finalist)

1999: 9-3 (Class B state champion)

2000: 9-2 (LTC Class B finalist)

2001: 8-3 (LTC Class B finalist)

2002: 11-1 (LTC Class B champion)

2003: 9-2 (Class B state champion)

2004: 6-4 (PTC Class B semifinalist)

2005: 5-4 (PTC Class B quarterfinalist)

2006: 4-5 (PTC Class B quarterfinalist)

2007: 3-6 (PTC Class B quarterfinalist)

Total record: 111-58