Quisno retiring after four years at Margaretta By BRIAN KOLLARS briankollars@sanduskyregister.com CASTALIA — Hall of fame football coach Gary Quisno is retiring, Margaretta High School announced Friday afternoon. Quisno coached the Polar Bears for four years, leading them to a 27-17 record and four playoff appearances. The Bears won their first Sandusky Bay Conference championship since 2001 this season and hosted a playoff game for the first time since 2002. "I went to Margaretta with the goal of four years," Quisno said Friday afternoon. "I'm 71 years old now. It's time to move on to other things." Quisno's 37-year head coaching record is 280-112 record. He took over the Margaretta program in January 2022 and had records of 8-3, 6-5, 4-7 and 9-2 this season. "He's a great coach and just a wonderful role model for our kids," Margaretta athletic director Drew Grahl said. "He committed to four years, but people don't realize he taught for three years. He was all in — a part of those kids' lives on and off the field." The Bears were the No. 1 seed in Division VI Region 22 before losing to Carey in the second round of the playoffs. Quisno, who was driving to an Upper Arlington playoff game Friday (his son-in-law coaches for UA), has six granddaughters. "They're all getting to the point where they're in activities," he said. "I'd like to do a little more traveling, maybe." Quisno said his most memorable game with the Polar Bears was this season's win against perennial power Hopewell-Loudon, which helped Margaretta win a SBC title. "It was exciting and we pulled it out in the end," he said. "That's the first time Margaretta had beaten them since 2018 or 2019." Margaretta posted the open head coaching job internally this week. Quisno's experienced staff has potential successors, including assistant coaches Brian Ringholz and Lucas Poggiali. "Any one of them would be a good candidate," he said. "I think the program is headed in the right direction. It's time for me to step aside and let some of the young guys take it from here." Grahl wants to move quickly on the new hire. "We feel like we have some really good people internally," he said. Quisno notified Grahl of his decision Tuesday, then met with his team. Quisno has been a head coach at four area high schools, most prominently at Oak Harbor. He was the Rockets' head coach for 29 years and built a record of 224-83. His OH teams qualified for the playoffs eight times and were regional champions in 1999 and 2006. He said when he took the Margaretta job that he wanted to get back into coaching, maybe as an assistant, then he talked to his old friend Grahl, who was the athletic director at Oak Harbor during the Rockets' 13-1 season in 2006. "It was a honor when they asked me if I'd be interested," Quisno said. "I knew if I didn't take it, I'd regret it. I'll still come to some games and I'll always root for the Polar Bears." Quisno went 16-5 as head coach at Perkins in 2008 and 2009. The Pirates were co-Sandusky Bay Conference champions in 2009 and qualified for the playoffs. Quisno was Perkins' offensive coordinator from 2012-15. Quisno's Oak Harbor teams won eight conference championships and he was the Associated Press Division III Coach of the Year in 2002. He was inducted into the Ohio High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 2013. Prior to taking the Oak Harbor job, Quisno coached Danbury for two years, going 13-7 in 1977 and 1978. He returned to Danbury as athletic director and dean of students from 2016-2018. Quisno is a 1972 graduate of Port Clinton High School and member of the PC Hall of Fame. He was a star player for the Redskins and played at Miami University, walking on before earning a scholarship. He was a three-year letterwinner at Miami and played on three Mid-American Conference championship teams. They all won the Tangerine Bowl.