Sartor fulfills 'lifelong goal' as Sandusky athletic director

SANDUSKY — Robert Sartor choked up for a few seconds while addressing the Sandusky school board after he was approved as district's new athletic and activities director Tuesday morning. He had dreamed of the moment for a long time. "This is a lifelong goal of mine — to be the director of athletics and activities at Sandusky," Sartor said afterward. "Growing up in this district, seeing some of my models, guys like (legendary football coach) Larry Cook, my father Dale (a former athletic director), it's something I've worked very hard on." Sartor will work under a two-year contract with an annual salary of $97,400. The 2002 Sandusky graduate was a football standout for the Blue Streaks and has worked in the school system for many years, mostly as an intervention specialist. He's also coached wrestling and football and spent the past year as Sandusky's assistant athletic director. Sartor sounds like he's ready for the grind that comes with overseeing Blue Streaks athletics. "This is what I grew up with," Sartor said. "I grew up with a father who was always busy with coaching or administrative duties. But I always had my parents home in the summer because they were teachers. I didn't know anything else. "Sometimes we wouldn't see Dad for a day or two. We would go to school and have lunch with him, or to the football field. I don't know how many times we had lunch under the dugout there at the stadium. That's where I grew up and my kids are gonna do the same thing." Sartor was joined by his wife, Erin (a teacher in the Sandusky system) and his two young children at the board meeting at the Sandusky Administration Building. It was the culmination of a year of preparation. Sartor applied for the athletic director job last year but didn't get it. Lucas Poggiali was recommended for the job but pulled out after public backlash over the interview process. Steve Camella, who had retired as Huron's AD, took the job on an interim basis and Sartor added the assistant AD job to his teaching position. "I asked (Camella) to teach me everything he knows and show me the ropes," Sartor said. "I wanted to see if it was something that I even wanted to do. I had to get it out of my system. Turns out I love it. I love the position." Sartor, 42, soaked in what he could to prepare for another shot at the big job. "I took this opportunity to show my family, the community, the coaches, the athletes that I'm able to do this job," he said. "I took the assistant athletic director position and my wife was not happy with me. But she saw as the year went on that I was really good at it and bought in to my vision to what I want to do in the future. She sees the passion I have for this position and has been very, very supportive." Sartor had hip replacement surgery March 17, then went through three rounds of interviews beginning in April. "It was more nerve-wracking — I thought about this for an entire year," he said. "When I finally got into that first interview I was so nervous. It was unexpected. I think it just hit me that I'd been waiting for this for over a year and now it was my opportunity. Talking during the middle of the first interview, it took my breath away. "Second interview went fantastic. I don't think there's anything else I could've said to help my case." Sartor grew up in Sandusky and currently is renovating his family's home on Columbus Avenue. "My wife, my father, my older sister was a teacher at Sandusky, my brother-in-law (Zack Moots) is a teacher at Sandusky," he said. "My sister Elizabeth runs the RN program at the Sandusky career center. When I say I grew up at Sandusky, my family owned a shoe store right across from Adams Junior High." Sartor said building relationships and organizational skills are among his strengths. Certainly, his history is another plus. "This is a special opportunity," he said. "My dad was a football coach here for a lot of years in the '80s and '90s. I've seen a lot of great football and athletics here. I remember wrestling matches with Kevin Randleman when he was in high school. "I interviewed Orlando Pace when he was a senior and I was in fourth grade. We did a news station in our classroom. We put this whole production together and I was a sportscaster. I got to ask him, 'What school are you going to go to: Ohio State or Michigan?' He said, 'I don't know what I'm gonna do yet.' I have a picture of it and a framed Orlando Pace jersey that I'm gonna put in my office. I'm gonna put that picture right underneath it." Sartor was an all-conference football player for the Blue Streaks and played football for one year at Ashland University. He transferred to Bowling Green State University, where he earned his undergraduate degree. He has two master's degrees from Ashland University. He also wrestled in high school and had three knee surgeries and a shoulder surgery before he graduated. Sartor was Sandusky's head wrestling coach from 2014 to 2019. "Every kid has their own story and building relationships with each individual kid goes a long way," he said. "Success I had in wrestling didn't happen overnight. For the five years I was head coach, we had 11 state qualifiers, six state placers, one All-American at the national tournament. That was because guys bought into or program. You have to build relationships, rapport. They have to be able to trust you with the vision you have." Sandusky superintendent Dan Rambler and school board members congratulated Sartor on his new job. "Robert has a great depth of knowledge of athletics and also activities," Rambler said. "We know kids do better the more involved they are and he values that. He was the perfect choice." Rambler said Sandusky considered 17 applications and conducted initial interviews with about 12 candidates. In addition to managing athletics, Sartor will be Sandusky's activities director. He originally was an art major college before switching to special education. Sartor knows athletics, but he also has a passion for ceramics. "It's not just about athletics. It's about the arts, music," he said of the job. "I like to see kids who do everything. I'm not your typical football player who does ceramics. You never would've known it, but I'm actually very, very good at it. My goal is to have a studio in my backyard someday." Sartor was offered the athletic director job last Friday and accepted right away. "To me it was a dream," he said. "For it to all fall together like it did, I was pretty shocked last week and pretty emotional all weekend. I'm thankful for the support." Sartor will work under a consultation contract until officially over as AD on August 1. He got to work immediately Tuesday morning, attending a meeting of the athletic directors for the Northern Ohio Conference, which will debut next year with Sandusky as one of 10 members. "I haven't slept; I haven't been very comfortable in days," Sartor said. "I'm relieved that this process is over and we can start focusing on the task at hand. I'm just ready to get to work and get some stuff done."