Caroline Kelly

LHS Athletic Director Dave Palazzi

At the end of this school year, our Athletic Director, David Palazzi will be hanging up his cleats and retiring from  Leominster Public Schools. 

Palazzi has been a fixture in Leominster High School sports since his high school days as a student-athlete before he graduated from LHS in 1984.

LHS Tennis Coach Daryl Robichaud, who was a classmate in high school with Palazzi said,  “I have known Coach Palazzi for many years, going back to his playing days here at LHS in the early 1980s. Obviously, he had a Hall of Fame career as a player and coach, but his greatest accomplishment has been his stewardship of the Athletic Department over the past decade.”

“He has constantly been supportive of all of the coaches on staff as well as the student-athletes within the program,” Robichaud continued. “His common-sense, no-nonsense leadership approach has allowed the Athletic Department to expand and flourish during his time at the helm.” 

As a student, Palazzi earned a spot in the Leominster Hall of Fame for his baseball playing. He was also a captain on the football, baseball, and basketball teams. As quarterback of the Blue Devils football team, he led the team to back to back Championships, victory in the famed 100th game with Fitchburg, beating Brockton the year they were ranked #1 in the nation, going undefeated twice, and beating Fitchburg 3 years in a row.

 After high school, he played quarterback for the UMass Minutemen in college and also played in a semi-pro football league. 

He returned to LHS as the football coach and then became the athletic director. He earned High School Coach of the Week from the New England Patriots for his outstanding coaching with his team’s dominating 41-13 win against Shrewsbury.

Many staff members at LHS voiced that Palazzi is a hard worker and his dedication to the athletes and families all around Leominster is outstanding, as well as who he is overall as a person, and how much he will be missed. 

He has overseen the installation of the new track and field behind the school and of the new interactive screens outside of the wooden gym.

The electronic wall features a large, touchscreen display that will act as a public database for all kinds of Blue Devil-related media. It will be divided into 5 categories that will feature athletics, arts, academics, and more. 

LHS students will be able to use the display to look back in history and view photos and videos from our school’s past, such as athletic team photos, videos from plays and musicals by the theater department, or celebrating the accomplishments of alumnis for example.

The point of the new display is to represent everything that makes our school what it is.

Coach Palazzi said at the time, “It’s really beyond athletics, it’s for all of LHS.” 

Leominster High School Principal Dr. Joshua Romano had a few words to share about Palazzi.

“He’s a guy who is Leominster through and through. He loves this community and being a part of it like he was. He did things that made it more inclusive, (and) trying to get as many people involved,” said Romano

“He was an outstanding athlete, said LHS Vice Principal David Bachant. “He will be missed for sure. He is a great guy and family man,” said Bachant.

“Coach Palazzi has been a great Athletic Director for us over the last several years,” said Boys Varsity Lacrosse Coach Colin Davis. “For me, personally, it is a huge advantage as a coach to have your AD be a former coach. He just understands everything from that coaching perspective and point of view. The importance of practice, communication, dealing with opponents and referees, how seriously coaches and student-athletes take their sports, how important off-season conditioning is, and how important it is to have great support staff and assistant coaches around as well. He’s been a great advisor and friend to me and helped me tremendously as a coach. He has done a lot for Leominster in several different roles, but I think his contributions as Athletic Director are second to none!” said Coach Davis 

As Coach Palazzi looks forward to his retirement, he said Leominster will always be his home. “I took 10 years away from the school, but I’ve pretty much been here my whole life” 

He is not sure what his exact plans are for retirement, but he said, “I will continue to work on something in the area that is sports-related and getting back involved in sports.”