Margaretta hires Miller as boys basketball coach

Toby Miller is going home. The 2015 Margaretta graduate has coached Huron for the past three seasons. He said he wasn't looking for a new job, but when Steve Keller stepped down at Margaretta last month, the prospect of coaching at his alma mater drew Miller's interest. "It's always been a dream of mine to return home to the community that made me who I am today," Miller said. "I attribute a lot of my successes to that community and the mentors I had there. "I wasn't actively trying to leave Huron at all. This was probably the only job I would've left for. It just transpired at a good time for me and my family." Miller, 29, went through two interviews at Margaretta — the final one Wednesday — and accepted the job Thursday night. In addition to coaching basketball, Miller will teach either math or science at the high school level. Margaretta athletic director Drew Grahl said Miller's ties to Margaretta and the fact that he'll be teaching in the building were huge factors in the hire. "Being from Margaretta myself, a lot of times you reference someone by saying 'they're a Margaretta grad.' That means something around here," Grahl said. "That meant a lot to me, having pride in the school district and this particular program. "He blew it out of the water from that standpoint, just how much being a Margaretta boys basketball player and a Margaretta graduate meant to him. That played a big part in it." Grahl said he received 21 applicants for the coaching job. Five candidates were interviewed and two received second interviews. The Margaretta job opened up last month when Keller stepped down after 14 seasons leading the Polar Bears. Keller had a 221-129 record at the school and won four Sandusky Bay Conference titles and four district titles. "I have great respect for what Coach Keller and (assistant) coach (Jake) Meisler built there," Miller said. "Over the last 10 years, they've been one of the best programs in the area. I know first-hand how special their teams have been one the last few years. "I told (the search committee) if I were to get the job I'm not trying to come in and tear everything down and rebuild it. I'm just simply trying to protect it and enhance it with some energy and some new ideas while honoring what they've built. I think that was a message that resonated really well with them." Miller had a 34-36 overall record at Huron and his Tigers went 15-15 in SBC Bay Division play. Huron was eliminated by Margaretta in the district semifinals the past two seasons. His wife, Taylor, coached Huron's girls cross country team to a Division III state runner-up finish last fall and teaches in the Huron system. The couple lives on the west side of Sandusky. Miller coaches the Ohio Buckets' 16U AAU basketball team and is wrapping up the first part of the season this weekend in Memphis. "I think it's helped me a ton," he said about coaching the Buckets. "I'm still young, but I feel like I have a lot of coaching experience." June will be a key month in his transition. High school coaches can work with their teams for a limited number of days in the summer. "Can't wait to meet with the kids and develop relationships with them," he said. "The most important thing is to get over there as much as I can and get with the kids and teachers and be back out in the community that I've really been away from for more than a decade because of where life takes you." Miller was a graduate assistant at Heidelberg University when Huron hired him in April 2023. He graduated from Ohio State University in 2021 with a degree in middle childhood education and earned a master's degree in business administration from Heidelberg. Miller got his coaching start at the middle school level at Margaretta and was a point guard during his playing days for the Polar Bears. Miller takes over during a period of change at Margaretta. The district's new school is set to open in early 2027 and the school's athletic teams will compete in a new-look SBC next fall after 10 of the larger schools — including Huron — break off to form the Northern Ohio Conference. "I think it's really conducive for all the schools playing in it," Miller said. "Some districts' numbers are going down for sports and enrollment and the old SBC alignment didn't make sense top to bottom for everybody. I think it's a great situation for Margaretta to be in that league in all sports because it gives us a chance to be competitive every year." Miller joked when he took the Huron job that he would have to get some red coaching gear. Now he's switching back to Margaretta green. "I got rid of all the green when I went to Huron," he said. "I got all my red going, and now we're gonna be switching back. Thankfully, I've just had places to call home. I've been very blessed and fortunate to have so many opportunities and people that believed in me. "I'm glad that these few weeks of stress are over and I can get to doing what I know and love — coaching basketball and building young men."