Fulton County Ohio Media

Joe Nye, the Interactive Media teacher at Swanton High School and former Bulldog coach of several sports, was recently inducted into the 2023 Class of the Toledo City League Athletic Hall of Fame based on his accomplishments as the 13-year head coach of Toledo St. John’s Titans baseball program as well as his work as a Titan assistant football coach.  He was also an assistant baseball coach at Start when the Spartans won the Division I OHSAA State Championship.  Joe was notified of this prestigious honor in July by the HOF chairman Lynn Moran and was inducted during a dinner and ceremony at the Premier Banquet Hall in Toledo earlier this month.

“It was nice.  It was flattering,” said Joe as he tried to find a word to describe what a great feeling it was when he was notified.  “I’ve been to many of these Hall of Fame ceremonies as a guest.  To be selected with some of the best in Toledo City League is pretty cool.  You’ve got names like Steve Mix and Jimmy Jackson, I mean I could go on.  I always wondered if I had enough years at St. John’s, but as I look at it, we put up three City League baseball titles when that league was as good as any in Ohio.”

During Joe’s time with the football program, the Titans mad six trips to the playoffs, back when only four teams from each region qualified, unlike the 16 schools, today.  St. John’s region usually included historically powerhouse programs like Massillon, Canton McKinley and Barberton.

Reprinted from the induction ceremony program:

Mr. Joe Nye arrived at Toledo St. John’s in the fall of 1982, hired to teach Accounting and Computers until 1999.  In his first year he also coached Freshmen Soccer and Varsity Track.  In the Fall of 1985, he joined the football staff as an assistant under Head Coach Fred Beier.  In the spring of 1986, he was named Head Baseball Coach after serving as the Freshman and Junior Varsity Coach during 1984 and 1985.

His first football coaching assignment in 1985 was that of an equipment manager and trainer.  He then became an assistant with the JV team working with Tom Cole as the defensive coordinator.  He became the JV head coach in 1993 teaching young players the fundamentals and what it takes to compete at the varsity level. His JV record as head coach was 46 – 8.  He began coaching varsity special teams in 1987.  During this time, St. John’s made six division one playoff appearances (1990, 91, 94, 95 and 96) winning the school’s first playoff game against Barberton in 1991. St. John’s won five city league titles during his time as an assistant (1987, 90, 91, 94 and 96). Two of his special teams’ players, Jeremy Miller (long Snapper) and Jeff Delverne (Kicker) played together at Michigan.

During his 13 years as Head Baseball Coach at St. John’s, his teams won three City league Titles in 1988, 91 and 93. A few notable wins include defeating Start 9 – 4 in 1988, Bowsher 4 – 3 and Central Catholic 10 – 2 in 1993 all in the City Championship Games. During his tenure, St. Johns also made five district appearances. He is the career leader in wins with 205 and was very instrumental providing valuable insight when the baseball facility was built in 1988. The team previously only played away games his first two years of being the head coach. He was selected to coach the All – Ohio North Team in 1988 at The Ohio State University. Mr. Nye was also a member of Coach Rich Arbinger’s staff at Toledo Start in 1999 and 2000 where they won the Division One State Championship in 2000.

Mr. Nye, a Vanlue native, graduated from Vanlue High School in 1978.  There he participated in three sports earning all BVC honors in Football and Basketball.  He also earned the American Legion Award as the outstanding Senior for his leadership as Captain of the football and basketball teams.  He graduated from BGSU in 1982 with a degree in Business Education and earned his Master’s of Arts in Education in 2002 from the University of Findlay.

For the past 23 years, Joe has been a teacher in the Swanton Local School District through the Penta County Career Center Satellite Program.  He has also been very active in Bulldogs’ athletics, coaching volleyball and softball where one of his teams set a school record for wins in a season.  For many years, Joe was an assistant on the Lady Bulldogs soccer team under head coach Jim Dickman and captured several NWOAL, Sectional and District championships.

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