BIDDEFORD — When you are starting an athletics program from scratch, the first thing you have to do is a find a leader who is willing and able to do the tremendous amount of work that it will take to be successful.

The University of New England believes it has done just that as the Nor’easters announced the hiring of Mike Lichten as the school’s first-ever football coach.

Lichten, who served as Becker College’s head coach for the past five seasons, called UNE his “dream job.”

“I can’t tell you how honored I am to be sitting here right now. Obviously, this is an incredible moment, not just for football, not just for me, but mostly for this university and this region. This is a special place to be, there’s no doubt about it,” said Lichten, who led Becker to a schoolrecord seven wins last year.

According to UNE Athletic Director Jack McDonald, who said the school received more than 200 resumes, Lichten was the clear choice.

“As the process evolved, obviously you want somebody with collegiate experience, collegiate head coaching experience, successful collegiate head coaching experience, so I think when you narrow it down that 200 becomes 50 real quick and that 50 becomes 10,” said McDonald. “Mike was very impressive. I say all the time, resumes get interviews, personalities get jobs. I think what he brought to us as a person, a Division III person, it pretty much was a unanimous choice of the committee.”

Lichten will have two years to get the program going as the Nor’easters will open sub-varsity play in 2017 and NCAA Division III varsity play in 2018.

“There is a lot to work on, obviously. I started to think about this a couple weeks ago and I’ve already filled up a couple notepads,” said Lichten. “It’s an exciting challenge. It’s something that’s going to keep me up a lot of nights, but that’s why we do the job and that’s the exciting part about it.”

McDonald is thrilled to bring college football to the Biddeford area.

“I think one thing football brings that we haven’t had is that Saturday afternoon tradition. In our world of American sporting society it’s high school football Friday, college football Saturday, professional football Sunday. Now, UNE is part of the team and Biddeford will have it all. Biddeford on Friday night, UNE on Saturday and Patriots on Sunday,” said McDonald. “I think what it also brings is the tremendous tradition of tailgating, alumni, homecoming and, by the way, there’s a good game. It’s just going to add to the whole student experience at UNE, the faculty/staff experience and the alumni experience.”

UNE is still working on getting the facilities prepared for the football program, according to McDonald.

“We have a plan in place for some expansion and we have other phases of this yet to come,” said McDonald.

As the school works on getting the facility prepared for football, Lichten’s focus will first be finding the right coaches to fill out his staff.

“I’ve been doing this a little while now, so I’ve come across some guys that I’ve really learned to trust. Some of them might be with me now and some of them might be elsewhere. Every coach has his short list, (and when) he gets his dream job, which I feel like I just did, he calls those guys first thing,” said Lichten on forming a coaching staff. “I’ve already had a few conversations with some important people … those kind of gears are already turning.”

Lichten, who is a University of New Hampshire graduate, is looking for coaches that not only know the game, but that will also represent the university in a positive manner.

“It’s more important to have guys that I really trust more than anything. You can always learn more about football, but you really have to be able to trust the guys that are around you … with how they handle the kids, coach the game and represent the college everywhere we go,” said Lichten. “We recruit on a national level and no matter where we go, we are UNE representatives and we need to make sure we have the right guys in those roles. We are looking to make this place proud every single day that we are here.”

Lichten will also be looking for the right student-athletes to build a program around – and he will start his search right here in York County.

“Local ties are essential. This is Southern Maine’s team. This is going to be tied into that community and they are going to support us, I hope, and we are going to support them. The way you start doing that is by building individual relationships,” said Lichten. “The first few days on the job is going to be about getting into Biddeford High School, getting into Thornton Academy, going all the way up to Brunswick and all those places. That’s really important to me and it’s going to be very, very important to this program … I can’t stress enough how important Southern Maine high school football is going to be to this program.”

Biddeford High School football coach Brian Curit is thrilled to see UNE starting a football program.

“It’s great for Southern Maine. It’s great for kids that want to go on and play,” said Curit.

Curit believes in the leadership at UNE – and also thinks the Nor’easters will quickly become a strong program.

“You know what, they are going to do things right. With the stadium there, they are going to make the commitment, the right way,” said Curit. “They will be a power within a short amount of time, I think.”

Lichten is hoping to prove Curit right.

“My job is to make you all in this room, and in this area, proud of this program,” said Lichten. “That’s something I have to keep in mind every single day and something I’m really excited about pursuing. The level of expectations are high from both myself and everyone in here and I look forward to reaching those expectations.”

NOTES: UNE will play a six-game Commonwealth Coast Conference schedule in 2018 … The Nor’easters already have four-year agreements in place to play both Coast Guard Academy and Husson University.

— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.