Brian McDormand is back to the varsity basketball sidelines for the first time since 2017.
McDormand, who won a gold ball as the head coach of the Old Town boys basketball team in 2014, has accepted an offer to become the next Mattanawcook boys basketball coach this winter. The Lynx went 3-15 last season, finishing 17th in Class C North.
McDormand said he is excited for the opportunity but realizes the school is coming off a down year and is very young. Mattanawcook finished last season with just eight players.
“I will try to build the culture up,” McDormand said. “I guess the first thing is to get some numbers involved. They asked me what a successful season in my mind would be, but we are going to be very young. … Most of the guys are going to be freshmen. So that would be to be competitive, get better, mature and also drive the numbers up.”
McDormand was 78-58 at Old Town with two East championships under his belt. At the end of the 2014 season, Old Town won 10 games in a row en route to the title. The Coyotes then went on to win 13 games in a row to begin the next season.
It’s not McDormand’s first time coaching at Mattanawcook.
From 2006 to 2010, McDormand was the girls varsity basketball head coach, leading the Lynx to a cumulative record of 59-22 and helping the team reach the 2008 Eastern Maine Class B final.
Growing summer and youth programs will be key for McDormand to help Mattanawcook to prominence.
“That’s the first thing I would try to establish, is a summer program,” McDormand said. “When I was at Old Town, I was pretty selfish. I had 30 guys in the gym at them every day. I don’t think we’re gonna have the commitment as far as the number of guys.”
MdcDormand said there are strong players coming through the elementary schools and middle school, but that teams need talent to win. At Old Town, McDormand coached Eric Hoogterp, the 2015 Mr. Maine Baseball award winner, as well as Adam Richardson, who went on to play basketball at Maine Maritime, and Andre Miller, who is now a tight end on the practice squad for the New York Giants.
The talent will need to grow, but McDormand feels healthy and energized for the job. He bikes between 50-120 miles a week.
“I always take coaching one year at a time,” McDormand said. “I don’t think we’re gonna come out of the gate to win 18 games this year. My motto this year is to win one possession at a time. That’s it. One possession at a time.”