TURNER — High school coaches are prohibited from actively recruiting athletes.

Nothing says they can’t make that sales pitch to an athletic director, though. And Leavitt Area High School staff members were sharp enough to recognize a blue-chip prospect when they saw one.

Jeff Ramich responded to the ringtone, accepted the offer he couldn’t refuse and is Leavitt’s new athletic director.

“I actually got calls from a couple of coaches out here, asking me if I was interested,” Ramich said. “That felt good.”

Ramich, 44, was co-curricular coordinator at Gray-New Gloucester in 2010-11. He held the same job at his alma mater, Lisbon High School, for nine years before serving as principal of Sugg Middle School in Lisbon for one year.

He succeeds an RSU 52 institution. Doug Conn retired this summer after a run that began in the 1970s and included lengthy stints as AD and football coach.

Conn wasn’t shy about his support for Ramich, either. He phoned his successor from Nevada to offer congratulations.

“That meant a lot, for Doug to take time out of visiting his daughter and his vacation to do that,” Ramich said. “He used to coach against me when I played.”

Leavitt, a Class B member of the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference, is familiar territory to Ramich.

During Ramich’s playing days, Lisbon and Leavitt were Mountain Valley Conference rivals.

And you don’t need six degrees of separation to connect Ramich with many members of his new coaching staff.

“Dave Bochtler (baseball coach and football assistant) and I coached together at Lewiston, way back. Pete Higgins (softball coach and football assistant) is originally from Lisbon. Mike Hathaway (football and boys’ basketball coach) and I know each other from the Lobster Bowl. I remember watching Tammy Anderson (girls’ basketball coach) light it up against us at Lisbon when she was a player at Winthrop,” Ramich said. “It’s almost like going home again.”

Ramich won’t have to reinvent the wheel at Leavitt.

Hathaway has led the football program to back-to-back Eastern Class B crowns and a state championship in 2009. Anderson’s team went 23-0 and rolled to the Class B girls’ hoop title.

Three prominent female athletes — Courtney Anderson (basketball), Allison Fereshetian (track and field) and Bri Hammond (soccer) — now compete at the University of Maine.

“They’re not just winning championships but also winning sportsmanship awards,” Ramich said. “That tells you they’re doing things the right way.”

Lisbon enjoyed a similar championship pedigree during Ramich’s years there, winning multiple state titles in football, wrestling and cross country.

Those successes and Ramich’s tireless, personable approach earned the attention of his future colleagues.

“I was all for doing anything we could to get him over here,” Hathaway said. “He reminds me a lot of Doug. He’s so enthusiastic about what he does. He’s one of those guys who always has the best interests of the kids at heart. People like that are people you want to work with.”

True to his reputation, Ramich gave Gray-New Gloucester much more than the standard two weeks’ notice.

This week, with next Monday’s first round of fall sports practices rapidly approaching, Ramich is working mornings at G-NG and afternoons at Leavitt.

He expects to continue that ambitious schedule until the Patriots — who have bid farewell to four ADs in the last seven years — hire his replacement.

“I told my wife it’s like winter season all over again. I leave the house at 5 in the morning and don’t get home until 8 or 9 at night,” Ramich said. “I wanted to make sure Gray-New Gloucester was in a good place when I left, so that the next person could come in and wouldn’t have to worry about anything.”

Perks of the Leavitt job include a shorter commute from home — 30 minutes each way instead of 45 — and no assistant principal or co-curricular duties.

“I’m very thankful for the opportunity I was given at Gray-New Gloucester,” Ramich said. “It’s hard leaving the kids. I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I think the kids see that. A lot of times these things happen in the summer and you don’t get a chance to say goodbye to them.”

Leavitt’s staff understands the concept of mixed emotions.

For all their success on the fields and courts, the Hornets endured a rough year away from the game.

Senior student-athlete Madison James Daigle died from his injuries in an October 2010 car accident. Conn’s wife, Heidi, was struck by a sudden, debilitating illness, hastening his retirement.

“I’ve been blessed to have a great mom and dad, but Doug has always been like my second father,” said Hathaway, who quarterbacked Conn’s final football team in the early 1990s. “We all knew this would be coming in the next couple years. I think we all kind of wish he could have gone out more on his own terms. But it certainly helps when you can replace him with a guy as quality as Jeff.”

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