Bucksport and the larger Maine football community is mourning the loss of a legend with the death of longtime coach and teacher Joel Sankey.
Sankey, who retired as the winningest coach in Bucksport football history, died unexpectedly according to a Tuesday statement from the RSU 25 school district. The Bucksport football team had shared news of his death in a Monday Facebook post.
“The passing of Mr. Joel Sankey, a beloved and irreplaceable member of the RSU 25 and Bucksport High School community, has brought profound sadness to all of us,” said the school district. “Mr. Sankey dedicated an incredible 50 years to our school — as a longtime teacher, football coach, mentor, and, most recently, a substitute teacher. His unexpected passing has left a deep void in the hearts of all who knew him.”
Sankey coached the Bucksport High School Football team for decades. He had more wins than any other coach in program history, including a 2004 state championship.
But there were things he cared more about than wins on the football field.
Former player David Gross described how Sankey would address the team after a game with a sense of pride that wasn’t contingent on wins or losses.
“It was always about growth and taking steps forward, whether that be on the field, in the classroom, the community,” Gross said. “And he made everything such a family atmosphere.”
Gross’ father, brother, uncle and cousins all played for Sankey, whose death was announced this week.
“When you talk about Joel Sankey, you’re talking about a guy who’s invested interest into generations of people,” Gross said.
His father, David Gross Sr., played at the University of New Hampshire after high school, and would later serve as one of Sankey’s assistants for years.
“He was a mentor to a lot of people, not just athletes, but students,” explained the elder Gross. “And he brought that team aspect, that whole family aspect.”
That included the inception of team dinners, where everyone was welcome, whether it was parents, grandparents or anyone else, David Gross Sr. said.
Sankey’s ability to make everyone feel welcome wasn’t limited to his own team, either. Just ask longtime John Bapst High School football coach and athletic director Dan O’Connell.
“Coach Sankey was a pillar in the football community here in our area in a number of different ways, over a series of decades,” O’Connell said. “I mean, he was someone who was a tremendous Xs and Os coach, but that doesn’t even scratch the surface of what he meant to so many.”
Before his longtime stint as Bucksport head coach, Sankey had been an assistant at various stops including Bucksport, Bangor High School and Maine Maritime Academy. O’Connell was a player on Bangor’s freshman football team when Sankey was coaching for the Rams program, but it was later in life as an opposing coach that O’Connell really got to know — and appreciate — the way that Sankey could roll out the welcome mat.
O’Connell was the relatively new coach of what had been a struggling football program, and he went over to Sankey’s house to trade game film. What the young coach expected to be a brief, perfunctory exchange between opponents turned into a more than four hour conversation of advice and encouragement.
Sankey told O’Connell that he saw some good things in the works for the Bapst program, and that he hoped O’Connell would stick around.
“And he didn’t have to do that. But he chose to, in his words, because he saw a young coach that he thought could stick around for a while,” said O’Connell, who is still around over 20 years later. “And in large part because of people like Joel Sankey who had the foresight to see something in me that I definitely didn’t see in myself, and he has done that for so many people.”
O’Connell also admired that Sankey “seemed to talk just the right amount” to make an impact with players without overdoing it. Both he and the younger David Gross stressed Sankey’s history as a military veteran and the perspective, experience and respect that came with it.
The 23-year-old Gross was recently named head coach of the Old Town High School football team after an impressive playing career at Bucksport and the University of Maine. He said Sankey taught him the value of setting goals and holding yourself accountable, both in football and in life.
“And the last time we talked, he called me, congratulated me on the Old Town job he had seen on the news, and he said he’d be there for a couple games,” Gross said. “So it really is hard now, knowing that he’s not gonna be there. But he will have the best seat in the house.”
Current Bucksport head coach Sean Geagan had been a longtime assistant under Sankey, and took over the Bucks team when Sankey retired in 2023. Geagan posted Monday on the team’s Facebook page to share the news of Sankey’s passing.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I send this message. The Bucks family lost the man that made us what we are today,” Geagan said. “Our foundation was built by a true legend of the game and his name will live on in the Bucks family forever! We will miss you Coach!”
If you’re wondering what the local communities meant to Sankey, consider what he said when he retired as head coach in 2023.
“There’s nothing like a Friday night in Bucksport,” Sankey said at the time. “The parents and fans were so supportive, and the Thursday night meals, I’ll miss all of it.”