SKOWHEGAN — When it came time to decide if he wanted to stay at Madison Area Memorial High School or make the move to Skowhegan Area High School, Matt Friedman talked to his wife, Kristen Dubord.

“She reminded me that I’ve always wanted to go as far in coaching as I can,” Friedman said. “This is a great opportunity.”

After three seasons at Madison, Friedman is making the move to Class A to become the head coach at Skowhegan Area High School. Friedman, who said he was offered the job Skowhegan job Monday, replaces Mike Marston, who retired after eight seasons as the Indians’ head coach.

Friedman couldn’t pass up an opportunity to coach in Class A. Skowhegan went 5-4 in the PTC A last season, just missing the playoffs. Under Friedman, the Indians will leave the run-heavy double wing offensive attack used in the past few seasons in favor of the spread offense Friedman used at Madison.

“You always fit your offense to your personnel, but that’s definitely my intention,” Friedman said.

At Madison, Friedman oversaw the growth in the program that came when Carrabec High School players joined the team for the 2009 season. Last year, the Bulldogs moved from the Class C Campbell Conference to the Class B Pine Tree Conference.

Friedman met with next season’s seniors on Tuesday.

“That’s definitely been the hardest thing,” Friedman, a 1990 graduate of Jay High School, said. “This group was my first group of freshmen when I came to Madison… There’s a lot of players in that program. Madison is heading in the right direction.”

Madison athletic director Chris LeBlanc said the head coaching job at his school will be posted this weekend. LeBlanc hopes to have a new coach by the end of the school year next month.

“The sooner, the better,” LeBlanc said. “It’s going to be a quick process, I hope.”

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com