The Dirigo High School boys’ soccer program is looking for a new coach and hopes to line up candidates for interviews this week.

Dennis Hanson stepped down this spring after four seasons with the Cougars.

“We’re trying to get the interviews done ASAP on it,” said Charlie Swan, Dirigo’s athletic administrator.

Hanson declined to be interviewed and stated in an email that he had “changed jobs and moved on from Dirigo.” He stated that he preferred to keep his decision and reasons private.

Dirigo went 12-0-2 in the regular season last fall and lost to St. Dom’s, 3-0, in the Mountain Valley Conference championship game. The Cougars then lost to North Yarmouth Academy in the Western Class C quarterfinals.

Swan said he’s in the process of filling the opening and hopes to have a new coach soon.

“We are still taking applicants,” Swan said. “My hope is to get them all organized this week. I probably won’t get to the interviews until after (July) 4th, but if I can, I might try to get things going this week and try to get it moving.”

Hanson had played for Dirigo in the 1990s and graduated in 1995. He served as a head coach at the middle school level for five years and was an assistant at Dirigo for two.

The Cougars had been through a lengthy drought prior to Hanson taking over the program. Fred Conlogue had stepped down after Dirigo went 13-2-1 and reached the Western C final in 2001. The Cougars then went 5-9, 2-9-3, 4-10 and 3-10-1. When the job opened up, Hanson was hired and strived to return Dirigo to its former glory.

“I told the kids, ‘We’re going to get the respect back for this program,'” Hanson said at the time. “It’s not so much about winning games, but getting that respect. When you walk on the field, other teams know that any day this team can win a game.”

Dirigo went 8-4-2 and finished seventh in Western C in Hanson’s first season. The team had a down year, going 5-9 in 2008 but bounced back in a big way last fall.

Currently, the Cougars have no summer program organized. If a coach is hired soon, there might be a chance a new coach could get something going before the summer season ends.

“It would be totally up to that coach,” Swan said. “I know some of the kids in the past, even when Dennis didn’t do anything with them, they did have pick-up games on their own. I have had a couple kids come in and get some soccer balls. So I’m sure they’ve been out playing and stuff.”

The program also graduated a wealth of seniors from last year, including all-state players Eric Bolduc and Tyler Gates.

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