Ryan Libby, who took over the football program at Skowhegan Area High School as interim head coach last summer and guided the Indians to the 2017 Class B North championship, has had the word “interim” removed from his job title.
The local school board approved Libby’s hiring on a more permanent basis at its meeting Thursday evening.
Libby, a 2001 SAHS graduate who played linebacker and offensive line under former Indians’ head coach Bob LeCours, has coached and taught mathematics in the Skowhegan school system since 2006.
He coached at the eighth-grade level for one year before moving up to the high school ranks, where he served as the Indians’ defensive coordinator from 2012 through 2016 before ascending to interim head coach last July after Matt Friedman resigned to become an assistant coach at Husson University in Bangor.
Libby guided a Skowhegan team that featured a high-powered offense to the No. 1 seed in the final Class B North (Pine Tree Conference) regular-season standings with a 5-3 record. The Indians were tied in Heal points with Lawrence of Fairfield but earned the top seed for postseason play by virtue of its 58-56 victory over the Bulldogs in Week 7.
The Indians’ defense came to the forefront during the regional playoffs, first as Skowhegan held Brewer without a touchdown over the last 43 minutes, 55 seconds of their Class B North semifinal and rallied from a 10-0 deficit to an 18-13 victory.
Skowhegan then shut out Lawrence 23-0 the following weekend to earn its first trip to a state championship game since 2008 when the Indians won the Eastern Maine Class A crown.
Skowhegan fell to undefeated Marshwood of South Berwick 63-20 in this year’s Class B state final and finished the year with a 7-4 record.
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