GRAY – Gray-New Gloucester High has hired a couple of familiar coaches to head its football and baseball programs.

Jim Hersom was approved Wednesday night to be the Patriots’ football coach. Brad Smith, the former athletic director at Bridgton Academy, is the new baseball coach. He was approved earlier.

Athletic Director Gary Groves called Hersom and Smith “men of integrity and great fits for the school’s athletic department.

“What an opportunity for the school to have coaches with both over 30 years of experience,” said Groves.

Hersom, 53, is part of a well-known Maine football family and has been a head coach at Brunswick, Livermore Falls and Edward Little.

He coached Livermore Falls for 12 seasons and brought the Andies to two Class C state championship games, losing to Old Orchard Beach in 1990 and to Stearns in 1992. In the first of his four seasons at Edward Little, the Red Eddies won the 2002 Eastern Class A title and lost to Portland in the state championship game.

For the last six years, he has been a volunteer assistant at Leavitt High. His son, Jordan, won the Fitzpatrick Trophy in January as the state’s top senior player.

Hersom teaches physical education at Edward Little.

“It’s something I would like to try again,” Hersom said of being a head coach. “It’s a challenge because the program has been down. I think there’s a lot of potential in the community. I’m not real familiar with the players who are returning, but I’m familiar with the league, the teams and the coaches. I’ll meet with the kids next week and we’ll go from there.”

In taking the job, Hersom said “it had to be a situation that works for me.” He’ll have a short distance to travel between teaching and coaching, and he’ll be able to watch his son play at Springfield College this fall.

“They play their games Saturday afternoons,” he said of Springfield. Gray-New Glouces-ter plays home games on Friday night.

Hersom and Groves were football teammates at the University of Maine.

“Jim has such a rich football background,” said Groves. “We’re excited to have him. There are no expectations on a timetable to win in football.”

Smith, 63, is a native of Burrillville, R.I. He coached baseball early in his career before moving to school and athletic administration.

A graduate of Boston College, Smith coached high school baseball in Massachusetts and Oklahoma.

He and his wife eventually settled in Maine, where he has been a teacher and administrator. He was an assistant principal at Leavitt for the 2010-11 school year, and has also worked at Cony High, the Elan School and Hebron Academy, where he was the athletic director. In 1991, he went to Bridgton Academy as the AD.

Why the return to coaching?

“The bottom line is that I missed it,” said Smith. “I have a passion about coaching baseball. I love being around kids in this age group and seeing them grow as young men and improve as baseball players.

“I’ve had players go on to play Division I, II and III baseball in college, but the ones you remember are the truly good kids. Fortunately, they’ve been one and the same. They’re good kids who continued playing baseball in college.

The first practice for pitchers and catchers is March 19.

Staff Writer Tom Chard can be contacted at 791-6419 or at:

tchard@pressherald.com

Twitter: TomChardPPH