Co-head coaches to guide Dexter football team

By Ernie Clark
BDN Staff

            DEXTER, Maine — Football is a sport founded upon cohesion at many levels, including the relationship between the defensive line and the linebackers or the linebackers and secondary.

            And that’s just the defense. That same need for chemistry applies for the various levels of offense and special teams, as well as to how one of those disciplines affects the others in such areas as field position and points scored or allowed.

            The Dexter Regional High School team will count on yet another area of cohesion to determine its fate this fall, as Brian Salisbury and Andrew Shorey will serve as the Tigers’ co-head coaches.

            “Both Andrew and I were assistants last year, and this is something we decided we wanted to do together,” said Salisbury after Tuesday morning’s preseason practice. “That way we can combine a lot of what he brings to the table with what I bring and decide in which direction we want to go.”

            Salisbury and Shorey collectively replace Kevin Armstrong, who stepped down after three seasons citing increased job responsibilities. Armstrong guided the Tigers to a 12-12 regular-season record and LTC Eastern Maine Class D playoff berths in 2012 and 2013.

            Dexter finished 3-5 last fall, just missing a third straight postseason appearance.

            “Probably the biggest challenge is staying on the same page all the time,” said Shorey, “but we get along very well and we’ve really talked everything through and planned everything out trying to be super-organized so I think in that way it’s a really good fit.”

            Salisbury is a four-year veteran of the Dexter coaching staff, while Shorey spent the last two years as a volunteer assistant coach under Armstrong.

            “We’ve been working together for the last couple of years and we get along really well so when the job opened up it seemed like this would be really good for both of us,” said Shorey, who played his high school football at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield. “Brian tends to work with the backfield and the defensive backs and I work more with the offensive line and defensive line and linebackers.”

            Salisbury will serve as the team’s offensive coordinator while Shorey will oversee the defense.

            “Our main goal this year is to simplify everything,” said Salisbury, a Connecticut native who also is the varsity wrestling coach at Dexter. “That’s something we’ve been trying to do because we felt like that maybe we had gotten too complicated for the kids and they had a hard time understanding our schemes. This year we want to be basic and go from there.”

            Salisbury and Shorey will be assisted by veteran Dexter coach Steve Spaulding and a pair of first-year coaches in Doug Richardson and Chris Shorey.

            Richardson, a 2010 DRHS graduate, was a two-way first-team All-LTC honoree as a senior for the Tigers who is now back in his hometown after serving in the military. Chris Shorey, Andrew’s brother, is a former quarterback at Foxcroft Academy in Dover-Foxcroft.

            “We know we’re in a little bit of a rebuilding process with this program,” said Andrew Shorey, “so we’re just trying to make things easier for the kids to understand and then build from there and try to get some wins this year.”

            One significant challenge facing the coaching staff involves personnel — just 24 players turned out for the opening day of practice Monday, with just two freshmen and five sophomores.

            Both Salisbury and Shorey hope to add a few more players by the time school begins.

            “That’s where we’re struggling right now,” said Salisbury. “This is my fourth year with the program, and it’s the first time we’ve been under 30.

            “The (middle-school numbers) have been decent, but that’s where the disconnect has been and that’s something we’ve recognized so we’re going to work hard this year to go to some middle-school games and get the (high school) football players to show some support and make sure they’re mingling with those younger guys.”

            Dexter will see its first preseason action against another team at 5 p.m. next Monday in a controlled scrimmage at home against Camden Hills of Rockport. The Tigers then will travel to Madison for an exhibition game at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29, against Madison/Carrabec before opening its regular season Friday, Sept. 4 at Houlton.

            Dexter’s first home game is at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, against Mount View of Thorndike.