Maranacook boys soccer coach Don Beckwith makes a point during a 2017 practice at Kents Hill School in Readfield. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal
A longtime central Maine boys soccer coach is on the move.
Don Beckwith, who coached the Maranacook boys soccer program to a pair of Class C state titles during the last two decades, will take over the same position at Cony High School.
“I’m excited (about coaching Cony), I’m really pumped about it,” Beckwith said. “I enjoy Maranacook. I loved it there; they were really good to me. I don’t want anybody to think that I can complain about Maranacook, because I can’t.”
“That’s a huge win for our program,” added Cony athletic director T.J. Maines. “Don is a state championship-level coach, who is going to bring tactical expertise to a program that, we feel like, has some pretty good players. I think his guidance is going to be great for those kids.”
Beckwith, 62, will replace former head coach Marcio Biasuz, who stepped down for work and family obligations.
Beckwith’s hire is the latest in a series of coaching moves made by Maines, who became Cony athletic director in October. Maines also announced that Doug Dieuveuil will be the next Cony boys hockey coach. Dieuveuil takes over for Shawn Johnson, who recently resigned after 27 years with the program as either an assistant or head coach. Dieuveuil, 32, served as an assistant under K.C. Johnson with the Gardiner/Waterville/Winslow program this winter. Furthermore, Peter Michelson will take over the Cony girls soccer program for Victoria Fowler, who resigned due to family commitments. Michelson, who is also the school’s boys tennis coach, assisted Fowler last fall.
The latest coaching moves come just a few months after Maines shook up the Cony basketball programs with two new hires. Maines brought in Isaiah Brathwaite in November to lead the Cony boys basketball program. Brathwaite, who played for Maines at Thomas College and coached with him at Cony, initially accepted the boys basketball coaching job at Messalonskee. However, Brathwaite later resigned before accepting the job with the Rams.
Maines also hired John Dennett, a longtime junior varsity coach, to lead the Cony girls basketball program last season. Dennett helped lead the Rams to a 15-5 season.
“I’m happy with our coaching staff,” Maines said. “We inherited a lot of great coaches that were already here. I’m pretty pleased with the ones we’ve been able to have. Finding good coaching is hard. There’s fewer people willing to do it, fewer people who have the temperament and the expertise to do it. But I feel like we have.”
Beckwith said it was a difficult decision to leave Maranacook, where he’s built some strong relationships in his 20 seasons. Maranacook has long been a top contender in Class C, too. The Black Bears went 9-4-2 last fall, finishing fourth in Class C South.
Maranacook boys soccer coach Don Beckwith, left, jokes with players during an Aug. 16, 2018 preseason practice in Readfield. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
“I think the biggest impact (Beckwith) had was with his players, the respect that he had for them,” said Maranacook athletic director Brant Remington. “He would give the shirt off his back for any one of those guys. What I talked to him about it last week, what impressed me the most, when (the players) left the field (at the end of the season), they all basically said goodbye to him when they left, through a handshake or whatever it may be. There’s a strong presence of alumni that will come back to games. And they don’t just show up to watch the game. They wait around until the game is over to say hi to him when it’s done. He’s established some good relationships.”
Beckwith takes over a Cony program that finished 6-7-2 last season. The Rams were seventh in Class B North. Beckwith takes over a relatively young roster as Cony will graduate six players.
“I just felt like this program needed me, and I needed them,” Beckwith said. “That’s kind of how I looked at it… I don’t know what I’m getting as far as talent. But I’ve been pretty successful at making talent, and I’ll try to do that.”
“I’ve known Don for a long time,” Maines added. “One of the things that I love (about him), his kids love playing for him. He’s fostered a sense of loyalty from players where, I think only really good coaches can do that.”
Cony will be the first high school head coach position for Dieuveuil, who has years of experience coaching at the youth hockey level in Maine and Pennsylvania. A former John Bapst player who went on to play football at Husson University in Bangor, Dieuveuil inherits a young roster that finished 2-15-1 last fall. There were bright spots for Cony. Junior Ray Dineen (nine goals, five assists) and freshman Cooper Clark (nine goals, five assists) each led the Rams with 14 points. And junior Landon Foster proved to be one of the conference’s top goaltenders, including a 70-save performance in a 4-1 loss to Messalonskee on Jan. 10.
“I’m extremely excited,” Dieuveuil said. “There’s so much potential for growth with this club. This is something that not many individuals have the opportunity to do, which is grow a program, essentially from the bottom at this point. That excites me, along with the players, the parents and the overall community. There’s a lot of opportunity.”
Maines said the hiring of Michelson as the new Cony girls soccer coach will help make a smooth transition. The Rams finished 0-12-2 on the pitch last fall.
“He knows the kids; it’s a building program,” Maines said. “He’s going to put some time into it to put it where he wants it to be.”
Beckwith’s departure leaves another fall coaching void for Remington, who also must find a new football coach as Jordan DeMillo stepped down. Remington said DeMillo — who’s been head coach of the program since 2019 and guided the Black Bears into its transition to eight-man football — accepted a teaching position in the Nokomis school district in Newport, which is closer to his Bangor-area home.
“My first hire was Jordan,” Remington said. “He has a great relationship with the kids. He knows football very well. He was very eager to learn the eight-man thing, because he never played eight-man, just as a lot of coaches of eight-man now didn’t (at the time)… He took the reins and grabbed ahold of it and really established us as one of the better eight-man small school programs around.
“I would have loved him to stay, but it was a smart move for him,” Remington said. “It’s going to be tough to find a candidate out there, but we’ve started the search.”
DeMillo had a successful tenure with the Black Bears, including trips to the eight-man regional finals in 2019 and 2021.
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