In late July, Joel Stoneton stepped away after 19 years with the program — the past 10 as head coach — to become athletic director and dean of students at the school.

Ten days later, the world turned upside down for the Ramblers and their former leader, with the sudden death of Stoneton’s 17-year-old daughter, Kelsey, due to a blood clot in her lungs.

What was already a quick turnaround for new coach Dave St. Hilaire became an emotional camp. Winthrop/Monmouth’s staff has been attempting to teach a young team new skills on the fly, including the finer points of the Wing-T offense, while dealing with the much more important struggles of life.

“The football timing has actually been good for them. It allows them to focus on other things and puts their mind on something else. That’s been a help for them,” St. Hilaire said. “It’s trying to keep the day-to-day stuff pretty similar, the same routines. We’ve got coaches around that know the kids.”

Stoneton, who was expected to spend time with the football team and help out as much as possible when his new job duties permitted, took an extended leave of absence.

Senior captain Jeremy Mihilakis said that Stoneton was just returning from Hawaii the first Friday of camp.

“I’ve just been trying to support Joel as much as possible,” Mihilakis said. “I’m excited to see him.”

Through the tragedy, there is excitement — and yes, a little bit of youthful anxiety — in the Ramblers camp.

Winthrop/Monmouth has only four players back from a team that posted an undefeated regular season in the first year of the combined program. It ended in disappointment with a 22-20 loss to Dirigo in the Class D West semifinals.

“I think people are focused on who’s not here versus who we have,” St. Hilaire said. “It all depends on how we come out those first few games. We’ve got kids who have played in varsity, but not a lot of them, so it’s how they pick up that pace and how quick.”

Sophomore quarterback Matt Ingram ran the Wing-T in eighth grade.

St. Hilaire kept it in place when he coached the combined middle school program a year ago, so there will be less teaching required down the road.

“Coach St. Hilaire knows a lot. He has a lot of experience with us,” Ingram said. “It’s a lot of movement for me as a quarterback. I’m running on almost every play.”

Offensive linemen are pulling from all angles, hoping to open lanes for backs in the time-tested offense.

The transition that admittedly took its toll in conditioning week on Mihilakis, who is the lone veteran on a line that also will include Tyler Gosselin, Nick Schlosser, Brandon Brown, Hunter Hamlin and Brendan Dunn.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever run it. There is a lot more movement on the line, definitely, than last year,” Mihilakis said. “Pretty much you’ve got to be in better shape as a lineman, and if you’re not, you’re going to have an issue.”

St. Hilaire brought in a new assistant coach, Maine skiing legend Tim Lavallee, to help in that department.

“He’s got some conditioning stuff,” St. Hilaire said. “We’re rolling tractor tires. Fun stuff for conditioning, and the kids enjoy it, so it’s not just sprint, line up, sprint, line up, sprint.”

The Ramblers picked up the offense ahead of St. Hilaire’s expectations in the opening week of camp.

A longtime youth football and hockey coach in the area, he won’t rest on those laurels.

“I haven’t gotten any sleep for a month,” St. Hilaire said. “Just because I want to prepare. Heck, I do that for youth hockey. You want to fix this and fix this and fix this. You want to make sure you’re showing kids the right thing the next day in practice.”