Poggiali named Margaretta football coach

Lucas Poggiali was ready. After an abrupt end to his tenure at Sandusky High School, Poggiali served an assistant coach the past two seasons under Gary Quisno. When Quisno announced his retirement from coaching Nov. 14, Poggiali applied for the head coaching job. Margaretta didn't have to search long or far, as Poggiali was named the new head football coach Friday, pending board approval. "To be completely honest, when I started here last summer, I really had no intention or direction of what I wanted to do," Poggiali said. "I wanted to coach kids that played hard and be around a staff that coaches that way. The Margaretta school district has those things. "Throughout the year, I didn't know if or when coach Quisno would step down. Midway through the year, things started to click for me. I got comfortable and poured my heart into my work here." Poggiali, a 2012 Sandusky graduate, coached the Blue Streaks to a 3-7 record in 2022 and 6-5 record in 2023. Sandusky made the playoffs that season, losing to Medina Buckeye. In the summer of 2024, Poggiali was promoted to athletic director at Sandusky, but backed away from the position after public criticism. Eventually, Poggiali left the school and was named an assistant coach and Supervisor of District Operations for the Polar Bears. "If you look back at my life a couple years ago, life was upside down," Poggiali said. "I'm fortunate to have ended up here. There are quality people here and when you mention quality people, you start with coach Quisno. I feel re-energized and re-juiced. I got back into coaching in a way I didn't know I could. "I really enjoy being a head coach. I think I'm pretty good at it. There's nowhere else I'd want to coach at." In 2024, Margaretta finished 4-7, losing in the first round of the playoffs. This past season, the Polar Bears won the Sandusky Bay Conference River Division title, their first outright league championship since 1997. Margaretta then hosted its first playoff game since 2002, wrapping up the season with a record of 9-2. "The process was excruciatingly difficult because we thought we had two great internal candidates," Margaretta athletic director Drew Grahl said. "We did not go outside looking for our next head coach. We stayed internal with it. We had, what I thought, a good committee in place. We had great discussions with our candidates. "We are very pleased with Lucas becoming our next head coach and moving Polar Bears football in a positive way." Before Sandusky, Poggiali was an assistant coach at Marietta College in southeast Ohio. He graduated from Oberlin College in 2016. "We knew we had great candidates in house," Grahl said. "We moved forward without sending out any notice to outside applicants. We knew we had two gentlemen interested on staff, so we moved forward. I don't think any AD wants a program to not have a head coach in place. "We wanted to have our leader and get through the process." Poggiali, 31, will stay on as the head track coach for the Polar Bears. "He's very energetic," Grahl said. "The kids seem to really enjoy playing for him and working with him. That's great for our program and team. We're really excited to see what the future holds for Margaretta football." Poggiali is married to Tatum. Together, they have a daughter, Harper (3) and a four-month-old son. He wanted to thank his wife, especially, for her support. "It was a great interview experience," Poggiali said. "I've applied for different jobs. I felt confident in this process. I stayed true to myself. I'm the same individual I've been. I shared my vision of where we are and what I can bring to the table to elevate us to a higher level of football. "I feel like relationships are No. 1 and how you build those relationships. I told them win, lose or draw, I'm a Polar Bear. I love this district. I'm thankful I'm the right person for the job."