WALES — The opportunity to one day lead their own program falls into some coaches’ hands.

In the case of Stacen Doucette, however, becoming a head coach was an aspiration that he lived, breathed and embraced since his days as a high school athlete.

Doucette, 37, a fixture with the Lisbon football program for more than two decades, has accepted the top job at neighboring Oak Hill.

The RSU 4 school committee approved Doucette’s appointment Wednesday night. By early Thursday afternoon, Doucette was on his way to supervise an after-school weight lifting session.

“Since the first day I stepped on the field as an assistant coach, I always felt that I would be a head coach someday,” Doucette said.

He departs a program that has enjoyed multiple generations of Class C championship tradition to orchestrate one that appears to be on the cusp of such success.

Doucette succeeds Dave Wing, who resigned after leading the Raiders to a 12-16 record and playoff appearances in each of his three seasons.

“The two coaches that were there the past three years (Wing and defensive coordinator Mike Haley) have a great knowledge of the game,” Doucette said. “They built a very good foundation.”

A finalist for the Oak Hill job when it previously opened in 2009, Doucette emerged from a list of candidates that included at least three men with 10 or more years head coaching experience.

Doucette, a starting quarterback at Lisbon, graduated in 1992 and joined the Greyhounds’ staff little more than a year later.

He was eighth-grade coach at Sugg Middle School before earning a place on high school coach Dick Mynahan’s staff the next season.

The 18-year run with Mynahan included Class C championships in 1997, 2005 and 2006. Doucette was offensive coordinator for the back-to-back title teams and held that job through this past season.

“Coach Mynahan is one of the most respected coaches in the state of Maine. He’s a great mentor, a great coach and a great person,” Doucette said. “He kind of showed me the ropes. He gave me more responsibility every year. He gave me the ability to grow and the confidence to become a head coach.”

Doucette knows that he may be forever associated with the Greyhounds but said that he is “not the type to look back, only to the future.”

Oak Hill and Lisbon have developed a strong rivalry over the years, playing in the preseason while the Raiders were in Class B and meeting in the season-opener since the schools reunited in C.

“It’s just across the tracks,” Doucette said. “I’ve always admired and respected the Oak Hill program. It’s a blue-collar community. The kids work hard and the families are very, very passionate about sports.”

Doucette’s Lisbon offenses showed a knack for taking advantage of whatever personnel the Greyhounds had on the depth chart.

That has meant spreading the field, as has become the fashion, or saddling up running backs behind a big, physical line when the team had one.

“In Maine, especially when you get toward the end of the season, you need to run the ball,” Doucette said.

On defense, the new coach said his team is likely to utilize a five-man front.

Assistant coaches Geoff Wright and Chad Stowell will remain with the team. Doucette cited their management of the team’s off-season fitness program and their familiarity with the personnel in easing his transition.

Oak Hill was ousted from the playoffs by eventual state champion Yarmouth each of the past two years. Doucette already has begun the process of breaking down 2011 film.

“I enjoy coaching football,” Doucette said. “It has kind of defined me. I’ve been able to find my niche in life.”

koakes@sunjournal.com