LINCOLN – With less than two months until the start of preseason high school football practices, Mattanawcook Academy is in the market for a new head coach.

Mike Bisson, who took over the program last year after serving as an assistant football coach with the Lynx for eight seasons, will not return to the post this fall because he recently accepted a position as principal of the Ella P. Burr Elementary School in Lincoln and the Dr. Carl E. Troutt School in Mattawamkeag.

“Right now I need to show that I can do the principal’s job, and it’s two schools so it’s tough,” said Bisson, who most recently served as health coordinator for SAD 67 before being named principal June 15.

Bisson said there is a possibility he could return to the sidelines in the future, “but this year I need to focus on being a principal.”

An advertisement for the football vacancy was published in Saturday’s Bangor Daily News, and MA athletic director Rick Sinclair said that according to school policy, applications will be accepted for the next three weeks. That will be followed by interviews of selected candidates before Bisson’s replacement is determined, Sinclair said, meaning MA’s next head football coach may not be named until late July or early August.

“One thing that’s good is that we’ve got a veteran group of kids who are familiar with the system, and all of the assistant coaches are all set for next season,” Sinclair said.

One of those assistant coaches is longtime former Stearns of Millinocket coach Art Greenlaw, but it isn’t known if Greenlaw intends to apply for the head coaching vacancy.

Bisson guided the Lynx to a 6-3 regular-season record and a berth in the LTC Class C playoffs in 2004. MA fell to eventual state champion Bucksport in its LTC semifinal.

“Mike did a great job last year,” said Sinclair. “He took a team that wasn’t expected to be in the playoffs and got them in the playoffs. And the attitude and commitment of the kids is great. We’ve got 40 kids in the weight room three nights a week now.”

The Lynx are expected to be one of the top teams in the LTC again this fall.

“We’ve got a great group of kids, and I feel like I’ve let them down, but they’ve been very understanding about this,” said Bisson. “We talk in our program about the priorities being family, school and football, and they understand that for me it’s family, work and football.”

Bisson was an assistant football coach at Stearns for four years, including in 1995 when the Minutemen won the Class C state championship. He joined the Mattanawcook football staff in 1997, and was defensive coordinator in 1999 when the Lynx won the Class C state title.

He also has been an assistant baseball coach at MA, but said he will not return to that position next spring.