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New Telstar High School head football coach Mike O’Leary has a straightforward philosophy: “Coaching is teaching.”

What he’s teaching his team is a balance between being disciplined and being loose on the field.

While this is his first time as a head coach, O’Leary brings 19 years of coaching experience to the position.

A native of Rumford and a 1992 graduate of Mountain Valley High School, he played football himself in high school and college.

He then turned to coaching, serving as an assistant coach at Poland, Oxford Hills and Mountain Valley high schools.

O’Leary was with Oxford Hills when that program won its first-ever state championship four years ago, finishing undefeated.

A resident of Milton, he has already coached at Telstar for two years — in softball. The father of three girls who played, getting into that sport was a natural step for him, he said.

Taking over in football at Telstar has its challenges compared to his previous teams.

Telstar is one of 23 teams in Maine that plays eight-man football, with three less players on the field at a time than traditional football. And O’Leary is the sole coach at Telstar, which requires a whole lot of multitasking.

The Rebels currently have 20 players total, with the possibility a few more might yet join.

The squad returns its starting quarterback, junior Bryson Walker, from last year. There are also a half dozen seniors on the team.

O’Leary said he gathered the seniors together in preseason and told them he wanted “to give them the best senior year.” To bond with them, O’Leary took them hiking.

In addition to O’Leary adjusting to a new team structure and players, it’s also been an adjustment period for the team, as they learn the expectations and techniques of a new coach.

“I’m happy where they’re at now,” O’Leary said at a practice following their first regular-season game. 

They lost that game, 30-18, to Spruce Mountain — which played in the eight-man Large School state championship game last year. But O’Leary kept the Rebels focused on progress during the game. He told them to “win the second half,” which they did, 12-0.

O’Leary also instills a coaching mentality in the players by telling them to watch for small tendencies in the opposing team that they can use to their advantage. Delegating that responsibility enlists the players to shoulder tasks that an assistant coach might otherwise do, and gives the Rebels a better chance to succeed.

“They put us in a position to win,” he said.

Alison Aloisio is a freelance writer.

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