Under head coach Scott Franzose, the Madison Area Memorial High School football team enjoyed success it had not seen in a generation. Now, Franzose will try to reinvigorate the Mt. Blue High School football program.

Franzose accepted the Mt. Blue football head coaching position Monday, saying the opportunity to coach at a higher level was too good to pass up.  The Cougars play in the Class B Pine Tree Conference, while Madison competes in the Campbell Conference Class D division, after a short stint in the Class C Big Ten Conference.

Furthermore, Franzose is scheduled to teach at Mt. Blue in the fall and will be close to the University of Maine at Farmington, where he is student working toward a teaching degree.

Scott Franzose will be the next Mt. Blue football coach. Contributed photo

“The foundation is there. It’s a wonderful community, with a lot of support for the kids,” Franzose said. “Just looking at the returning roster, everything is there for success. It kind of makes your job easier. It’s a smoother transition and you can focus on the kids.”

Mt. Blue athletic director Chad Brackett said Franzose stood out amongst a strong field of candidates.

“I really like how Scott talked about how relationships are key to a program building success,” Brackett said. “We had a great pool of applicants and it wasn’t an easy decision, but Scott’s the guy.”

Franzose also cited the tradition at Mt. Blue under head coaches Ray Caldwell, Gary Parlin, Jim Aylward and Nate Quirion. Franzose replaces Quirion, who stepped down after two seasons at Mt. Blue to return to Husson University’s football staff.

Mt. Blue went 4-5 under Quirion last season, reaching the Pine Tree Conference Class B playoffs for the first time since 2015.

Franzose went 33-31 in seven seasons as the head coach at Madison. He also served as an assistant to Matt Friedman at Madison for three years. Over the last three seasons, the Bulldogs were 21-9 and reached at least the second round of the playoffs in each season. Madison went 5-5 last season, advancing to the Campbell Conference Class D semifinals, where it lost in overtime to Oak Hill. In 2017, the Bulldogs went 9-2 and reached the conference championship game. Both losses in 2017 came to Wells, the undefeated state champion.

“We had a good group of kids for a few years, and with (Franzose’s) skill set, it was a good fit,” Madison athletic director Chris LeBlanc said.

In 2016, Madison went 7-2 in Class C North, reaching the conference semifinals. A Madison native, Franzose said he hopes he leaves the Bulldogs in solid shape for the future.

“This is an emotional time for me. I have nothing but great things to say about my time with those (Madison) kids,” said Franzose, who also coached baseball at Madison for eight seasons before stepping down just prior to the 2018 season.

At Madison, Franzose’s offenses ran an efficient spread look. Franzose said he expects that to continue at Mt. Blue, but that will be contingent on the team’s personnel.

“I’m hoping to bring the same philosophies we had at Madison to Mt. Blue. I do believe in the spread offense. It’s worked, so why fix what ain’t broke?” Franzose said.

LeBlanc said Madison posted the the head football coach job Tuesday and hopes to begin interviewing candidates soon.

“We’re hoping to get it done as soon as we can, but we’re not going to rush into anything,” LeBlanc said.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM