Margaretta-bound Lucas Poggiali wants 'to lead like my dad'

CASTALIA — Lucas Poggiali has gained closure, and he was smiling Monday night. It's been a whirlwind three weeks for Poggiali, who was approved as Margaretta Local School's supervisor of district operations. Three weeks ago, he was slated to become Sandusky's new athletic director until backing away from the job after public criticism about the hiring process. Now the perception of many is this: Sandusky's loss is Margaretta's gain. Poggiali interviewed for the Margaretta job last Wednesday. His father's funeral was a day later. He accepted the job late in the week. Dan Poggiali, a former Sandusky High School principal, died on June 13 at the age of 70, and his son gave the eulogy. "My father and I were so close. What I went through leading up to all of this was very hard for him," Poggiali said. "Him moving on and him being in a better place and me getting to speak about it while doing his eulogy, I was finally able to come to peace and have clarity. I was able to move forward and that's something I have struggled with the last three weeks. "Now that we're here I feel pretty good about where I'm at." Poggiali said he tries to follow the example of his father, who was a longtime principal at Sandusky High School. "I don't want to live my life holding grudges or anything like that," Poggiali said. "I want to lead like my dad would've led — with love, believing in the good of others and being fair. I'm just trying to continue his legacy by being a present father and being a great leader and giving back to a community I'd like to call home." That home is now Margaretta, where Poggiali will start his new administrative job on August 1. Margaretta superintendent Ed Kurt congratulated Poggiali after the board approved his hiring. "He's about team, he's about working together and he's about doing what's right for kids," Kurt said. "In this business that's what everything has to be about." Kurt said the hire filled a need in the district. He conducted interviews along with athletic director Drew Grahl, who has experience in operations. "We were down a site. We had to ship things to more principals," Kurt said. "We lost a director of operations and split it to a supervisor of transportation. We looked at needing a supervisor of operations. That's where he fits right in and will work with four administrators in two buildings. "We posted (the job) and he applied. We interviewed five people. Lucas just stood out. He's all about kids and we're excited to have him with us." Poggiali will be in charge of the district's maintenance, custodial and grounds staff and also will fill in wherever needed. "The timing is unique," he said. "I understand I had opportunities that other people might not get. To land on my feet here, I'm super blessed and I'm not going to take it for granted." Poggiali, 30, was a star quarterback at Sandusky and coached the Blue Streaks the past two seasons. He pursued the athletic director job in order to impact more kids. Now he's focused on Margaretta. "It's an opportunity to be in a transformative role that can help the district in a lot of different ways," he said. "I made myself available at Sandusky to do great work and that's what I'm going to do here." Poggiali also will coach football. He will be an assistant on Gary Quisno's veteran staff. He said it's something he needs. "Coaching is a lot like therapy and I need a little bit of that now," Poggiali said. "I love competing and I love coaching kids who want to be coached. I had the experience the last two years and this is an opportunity to do it again." Poggiali will be no stranger on Margaretta's staff. Quisno was the Perkins coach during Poggiali's playing days at Sandusky. Assistant coach Jeff Keck was on the Oberlin coaching staff when Poggiali starred as a quarterback for the Yeomen. Assistant Jason Ziegler was on the Sandusky staff when Poggiali was a ballboy. "He would walk around the track and I had some sunflower seeds," Poggiali said. "(Ziegler) said, 'You got any extra?' After that we had a deal on Friday nights. I would give him a pack of seeds and it became a ritual. I thought it was the coolest." In addition, Poggiali played high school basketball for Margaretta boys basketball coach Steve Keller, who formerly coached at Sandusky. He even knows Kurt, who coached Sandusky basketball from 1997 to 2001. Poggiali was one of his ballboys. "There's definitely a family connection there," Poggiali said. "I go back with a lot of guys, like Steve Keller, who I played for. I was a ballboy for Ed Kurt's team from the time I started playing basketball." Poggiali, who was an assistant coach at Marietta College before taking the Sandusky head coaching job in 2022, said he'll have no problems being a high school assistant. "I'm just thankful for the opportunity to coach with this staff," he said. "There are really good guys on this staff. I'm not trying to come in and be a head coach or coordinator. I just want to do good work and coach good kids. That's really going to give me a lot of joy and a lot of fulfillment, just being around good people." Poggiali's wife, Tatum, is the daughter of former Margaretta girls basketball coach Tim Tucker. Lucas and Tatum have a 2-year-old daughter, Harper, who was very interested in getting some ice cream with her grandpa after the board meeting. Poggiali's mother-in-law, Angie Tucker, is the school board president. She recused herself from voting on Poggiali's hiring Monday night. Poggiali said Angie Tucker has kept some of her daughters' old basketball T-shirts. Now Harper wears them. The young leader sounds happy and thankful to be staying in the area, close to family. "We had options in different places, but ultimately went through a pretty difficult three weeks," he said. "We didn't want to leave them and this felt like a natural fit." Poggiali wants the Sandusky community to move forward and sounds ready to put behind a controversy that has raged on social media for weeks. "A lot has happened," he said. "This is an opportunity to start fresh and move on and maybe make my own story. "It's a hard thing to leave a place where you grew up, especially with everything that happened with my dad. It's a tough thing, but it's the right thing to do — I know that." Poggiali's first day working with Margaretta's football team is Thursday. Sometime in July, he and Tatum will get away from it all. "It's our five-year anniversary in July," Poggiali said. "We are definitely going to take some time and get away. Other than that, I'm going to be locked in with the Polar Bears."