BANGOR – Bob Leib is much too modest to refer to it in such lofty terms, but his retirement marks the passing of an era and the end of an institution at the University of Maine-Farmington.

The longtime coach called it a career after nearly four full decades patrolling the sidelines and foul lines for the Beavers. His 39-year career encompassed coaching stints in men’s and women’s soccer, baseball, and – most recently – softball.

“It was time. I’m losing my energy and I have a lot of grandkids down south in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is where we want to winter,” the 63-year-old Leib explained. “It’s tough to winter in the south and still coach up here, and I want to be able to see my grandkids more often than holidays.”

Leib’s softball team sent him out on a high note as it entered the North Atlantic Conference tournament as the fourth seed and advanced all the way to the championship game before losing to No. 2 Lesley University.

“We did it in soccer too, but I guess I’m a Dickie Nixon No. 2 guy because we came in second both times,” Leib said with a chuckle. “But hey, I can’t ask for a much better way to end up. Just to get here is great, coming from where we came.”

Leib came to UMF after eight years as an assistant soccer and baseball coach at the University of Delaware. His soccer teams didn’t have a single sub-.500 record in his first 32 seasons. In 25 years coaching the men’s soccer team, Leib compiled a 260-94-34 record with five Maine Athletic Conference titles and five runner-up finishes. He was also named district coach of the year four times, regional coach of the year twice and state of Maine coach of the year three times.

He stared coaching both soccer teams in 1996 and won three conference titles along with an NAIA Region 10 championship in his first six seasons with the women’s program. He was also women’s soccer coach of the year in 1998.

After coaching UMF’s baseball team for 16 seasons, Leib took over the softball team in 1994. His softball teams have never had a losing record. This year’s team went 24-9.

“I’m just a generalist,” he said with a laugh. “I’m not really good in any one thing and don’t specialize, so I try to do a lot of different things.”

Leib will continue to teach coaching and athletic injuries classes next fall, and then go to work for UMF’s alumni office afterward.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a couple years now. I’m glad I stayed a couple more years, but I’m looking forward to it.,” he said. “I love the games, but I hate practice. This year we had three months of the season and one outside practice.”

So is he completely done with coaching?

“I’ll probably do youth coaching and work at a Y or something down south,” he said. “I think I’d be the perfect assistant coach for somebody.”

aneff@bangordailynews.net

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