DEXTER — There is one reason that Steve Fisher wanted to come back to coach at General Brown.

“I want to coach football, and there was no better place to do it than where I did for 43 years,” he said.

The longtime coach will return to the sidelines at the field that bears his name for the 2013 season after Tom Frears, the Lions’ head coach for the past three seasons, decided to step down.

Frears said that Fisher was a great choice for the team.

“It’s a great position for him,” said Frears, who will also being stepping away from the lacrosse program at the end of this season. “He’s got more time now that he’s retired, he was a long time physical education teacher at the school, and he’s the one who helped build the program.”

Fisher has a career record 253-128-2, with all but one of those wins coming at General Brown, and ranks second in wins among Section 3 coaches. After leaving the Lions in February 2010 and taking a year off, Fisher had a pair of one-year stints at Alexandria (1-7) in 2011 and at Thousand Islands (0-8) last season. His past success made him an obvious choice to regain his old job.

Fisher’s first order of business will be to meet with the returning players and realizing that next year is going to be difficult, but he’s ready.

“We’ll lose 17 seniors, and it will be a challenge,” said Fisher, who guided the program to four sectional Class C crowns. “They were high-quality players athletically, not just in football, but in other sports.”

The Lions lost to eventual Section 3 champion Skaneateles in last year’s sectionals to finish 7-1.

Fisher will also rely on his staff, which won’t be finalized until later, to help the team prepare for 2013.

Frears, who went 25-5 at General Brown, led the Lions to the state Class C title game in 2010, when they lost to Bronxville. Fisher praised the man that succeeded him.

“He has the best record in the history of General Brown,” Fisher said of Frears. “He’s done a fantastic job. One of his losses was in the state final and the other losses were in the sectional semifinals to two really talented teams.”

Frears did not completely rule out a return to the sidelines in the future. “Time will tell,” he said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

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