Ted Tibbetts was present for the birth of the Poland Regional High School football program on a humid September night in Naples in 2004, when the Knights upset Lake Region in their first varsity game.

He’s come back to guide the Knights through the next step in their development.

Tibbetts was named Poland’s head football coach this week. He becomes the third head coach in the eight-year history of the program, replacing Mark Soehren, who resigned last month after accepting a teaching position with Oxford Hills.

Tibbetts, 43, takes over a program undergoing a major transition. Poland is moving from Class B to Class C in the Campbell Conference this year due to an adjustment to the Maine Principals’ Association enrollment cutoff figures for football. The Knights are also playing under the lights this season after hosting Saturday afternoon home games throughout their history.

“What an exciting season,” Tibbetts said. “A new conference is a new start. Playing Friday nights, for our community, I think is really going to be an exciting time, hopefully for everybody in our community.”

Tibbetts’ football background goes beyond Poland. A 1986 graduate of Gardiner High School, he played on John Wolfgram’s 1985 Class B state championship team, then served as an assistant coach for legendary coaches Mike Landry at Biddeford and Mike Bailey at Portland.

“Ted is a detail oriented person and is excited to be on board,” Poland co-curricular director Don King said in an e-mail to the Sun Journal. “It is an exciting time for Poland football with several changes happening this year.”

Tibbetts was the Knights’ defensive coordinator as they rose from a club and junior varsity team to the varsity ranks in 2004. He stepped away to spend more time with his two young children, son Gawain, now 10, and daughter Catherine, 7 and did some coaching in youth sports.

A humanities teacher at the high school, Tibbetts discussed the opening with Soehren, his children and some of the players before deciding to throw his hat in the ring.

In three years under Soehren, the Knights were 4-23 in Class B. But they won two of their last four games last season to finish 2-7. The last two losses, to playoff teams Falmouth and Wells, were by a combined 12 points.

Tibbetts and Soehren worked together under head coach Rick Kramer on that first Poland staff, and he has followed the Knights closely during his absence. Most of the coaching staff from last year is returning, and Tibbetts said he doesn’t plan to change much in terms of x’s and o’s. That includes keeping the triple option offense that has been a staple of the program.

“I think that’s a big plus, to keep that continuity,” said Tibbetts, who lives in Otisfield.

The key to winning games and being a factor in the Campbell Conference, Tibbetts said, will be execution and playing sound fundamental football. That lesson still resonates from his days playing for Wolfgram.

“We have a tremendous work ethic that’s developed,” Tibbetts said. “I think where we’ve struggled in the past is making mistakes. I don’t know if it’s because we’re nervous because we’re not an established program or what it is, but this year we’ve got to worry about just taking care of the little things and not making those mistakes, not beating ourselves.”

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