Josh Wade has been hired as the new head football coach for Bowling Green City Schools.
He accepted the job offer at the board of education’s February meeting, which was held virtually.
He comes from Little Miami High School, Ohio, and attended Defiance College, where he played football for
four years.
This is his first job as a head football coach, and he praised former coach Dirk Connor for doing a great
job.
“We don’t want to reinvent the wheel,” Wade said while taking a break coaching track in Texas.
He drove from Texas to take part in the second round of interviews even though a Zoom meeting was given
to him as an option.
It took him 19 hours due to an ice storm in Tennessee.
“God was testing me because we were really cutting it close for the interview,” Wade said.
He expected to check into a hotel and take a few hours to unwind. Instead, he had 90 minutes to
decompress.
“Being a head coaching job, I wanted to show how serious I was,” Wade said about the trip.
“My family and I are so grateful for this opportunity,” Wade said. “So many people have reached out and
we’re not even there yet.”
He said has been aspiring to be a head coach for a long time and he is not looking at this as a
steppingstone. He wants to see his 3-year-old daughter Olivia and 10-month-old son EJ to graduate from
Bowling Green.
“We want to be here, and we want to be here for a long time,” Wade said. “We’re already Bobcat Proud.”

“If I had a son, I’d want him to play football for BG and Josh Wade,” said board member Tracy Hovest, who
took part in the interview process.
“The thing that stands out for me is … this is a guy that does something that we all really value in our
district and that is build relationships with kids and families,” said Superintendent Francis Scruci.

His recommendations of what he does in the classroom is equally impressive, Scruci said.
Wade also will teach high school social studies, specifically U.S. history.
“History always intrigued me growing up,” Wade said. “I want to share my interest with the students.
“When I can get a kid to say that I made history fun, then I am doing my job well.”
He has served as an assistant football coach and head high school boys track coach since 2017 at Quitman
High School in Texas and has served as interim athletic director for two months in late 2020.
He has been at Quitman since 2014 and is the previous defensive coordinator for the football team and
coached junior high basketball and was assistant high school track coach.
He served as volunteer football coach at New Richmond (Ohio) High School in 2012-13 and football
defensive coordinator from 2013-2014.
He plans to visit Bowling Green during his spring break in March, and arrive full time in June.
His wife, Megan, who is from Piqua, likely will look for a job in sports medicine. In Texas, she set up
Saturday clinics to help players injured on Friday nights.
BGHS is twice the size of Quitman, but Wade said he welcomed the opportunity to get to know more kids.

“We’ve heard nothing but positive things about the community. We want to be there for a long time and
we’re looking forward to being part of the community.”