LEWISTON – One peek at John Brubaker’s resume begs the question: Why?

For a lacrosse coach with experience at the Division II college level, and at a top prep school level, the fact the Brubaker is now roaming the fields at Lewiston High School may seem a bit puzzling.

The easy answer?

Family.

And Brubaker’s love of family, and of the area in which he now lives is inherently Lewiston’s gain.

“We’re very lucky to have someone with his background coaching at Lewiston High School,” Lewiston AD Jason Fuller said.

Brubaker replaces Tom Fournier, who’d coached through most of the Lewiston program’s existence. Fournier stepped down after last season to pursue other opportunities. Brubaker knew it was coming, and readied his resume.

“I was coaching at Kents Hill last year, and I wanted to resume a full-time career in education,” Brubaker said. “My wife’s job is in Lewiston, our kid’s going to go to school in Lewiston, we have a mortgage in Lewiston. I know the tradition here, and it’s a tremendous opportunity.”

His background in coaching began in grad school.

“I got hooked,” Brubaker said. “I decided I wanted to coach at the college level and make it my occupation. It led to a 10-year coaching career at the college level.”

A move to North Carolina left the Brubaker family taking vacations to Maine as often as it could. It was time for a change.

“Every summer we came home – you hear what I just said, came “home” on vacation?” Brubaker said with a grin. “The last summer we did that, we looked at each other and said, ‘What are we doing?’ That’s what led us back here.”

Speaking of change, Brubaker isn’t just going to carry things over from Fournier’s tenure. He’s already made systemic changes to Lewiston’s style, both on offense and on defense.

“The first week was the hardest,” senior Devin McClellan said. “Everything was changed. (Brubaker) doesn’t run the same offense, the same defense, so it took a little bit of getting used to.”

“It was getting used to the way he runs things,” senior Brandon Lebrun said. “We have to follow what’s going on, learn the new system and get used to it.”

The players who’ve taken the field for both coaches, like McClellan and Lebrun, are excited about the challenge ahead. Brubaker, meanwhile, knows he’s got some work to do to make the team his own.

“The basic philosophy that Tom built is going to remain the same, and that’s that you build a team based on the athletes you have in the community,” Brubaker said. “You don’t win games with plays, you win games with players,” Brubaker said. “We’re able to be in superior condition, pressure the ball all over the field, create turnovers and cause havoc, that’s going to lead to some transition goals.”

On the face of it, Brubaker’s first season with the Blue Devils appears to be a challenge, given the large number of underclassmen on the roster.

Not so fast, he said.

“We have a great contingent of ninth- and 10th-graders who’ve come up through the rec program here,” Brubaker said. “That balances out a lot of the youth. In a lot of towns, you have a lot of youth, and that equates to inexperience. We have youth, but we have experienced youth. I’m really looking forward to putting my thumbprint on the program and having the young guys grow within my system so they learn the expectations.”