PORTLAND — Bill LeRoy, the Deering High athletic director since 2008, is leaving the position to become a health teacher at Portland High, effective Sept. 1.

LeRoy, 53 and a Portland resident, oversaw an active three-year period where the Rams took part in some epic games and saw some well-known coaches depart.

LeRoy said that the hours of the job became oppressive and that returning to the classroom was a strong calling.

“What I enjoyed most at Deering was the interaction with kids, but I felt isolated,” LeRoy said. “I really missed the day-to-day contact. It’s time for me to step back to a reasonable schedule. The hours really infringed on my private time with my family.”

LeRoy grew up in Massachusetts and was a football standout in high school. He also played baseball, basketball, hockey and ran track. He then came to Orono and was an offensive lineman at the University of Maine. After spending some time coaching football at Dartmouth and Alleghany colleges, Maine Central Institute and Syracuse (where he served as a graduate assistant to former New England Patriots coach Dick McPherson), LeRoy came to Deering in the fall of 1986 and spent a quarter century at the school as a coach, teacher and administrator.

LeRoy said that applications for the job closed Friday and that Deering hopes to have someone in place by the time the fall sports season commences on Aug. 15.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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Bill LeRoy has been the Deering High athletic director since 2008. He is leaving the position to become a health teacher at Portland High, starting this September.