SKOWHEGAN — Two jobs have opened up in the athletic department at central Maine’s second-largest high school.

Skowhegan Area High School athletic director Brian Jones is resigning from his position after three years to teach history at the school. Meanwhile, boys basketball coach Tom Nadeau is out after more than a decade coaching the team.

Jones replaced Jon Christopher as Skowhegan’s athletic director in June 2022 after three years as the assistant principal at Lawrence High. He previously taught high school history for 20 years (three years at Madison, then 17 at Lawrence).

After six years on the administrative side of education, the allure of returning to teaching was too good for Jones to pass up. When a history teaching position opened at Skowhegan this spring, he decided it was time to go back.

“I always had an inkling in the last six years of being AP at Lawrence and then the AD here at Skowhegan to go back to the classroom, and I’m ready to go back,” Jones said. “History is a passion of mine, and I love teaching kids and working directly with kids in a classroom environment.”

Although Jones said there were “a lot of variables” that played into his decision, he cited his passion for teaching and family life as the two biggest. His daughter, Lydia, will be a senior at Skowhegan next year while his son, Andrew, will be an incoming freshman.

“I’ll have two kids of high-school age that will be playing probably six different sports,” Jones said. “It’s tough in this (athletic director) role because you have to sacrifice. … I’m excited to be able to watch my kids and work with my own kids, and be a parent while they play sports.”

Nadeau spent 12 years as Skowhegan boys basketball coach after replacing Dave Simpson. He was a member of the 1997-98 Skowhegan team that won the Class A state championship — the only team in program history to win state or regional titles.

His teams won 10 or more games in eight straight seasons from 2015-23. Skowhegan reached the Class A North final in 2015 and 2023. In the COVID-19 season of 2020-21, Skowhegan went 12-3 and reached the Central Maine Class A/B title game.

Jones, who is still athletic director through July 31, declined to comment on Nadeau’s departure other than to confirm he was no longer with the program. The coaching change, Jones added, was as unrelated to his own decision to step down as athletic director. 

Nadeau did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Likewise, Superintendent of Schools Jonathan Moody did not return a call seeking comment on the change or a timeline for naming a new athletic director.