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05/28/2015 12:01 AMPeter Nye played a pivotal role in the prosperity of one historic high school football powerhouse and now he’s looking to do the same one town over.
The Bristol native and former Bristol Eastern wide receiver went onto play for Division III Bowdoin College in Maine before earning a free agent contract with the New York Giants to participate in their training camp fresh off of graduation in 1994.
Following that, Peter was an assistant coach for Hand football from 1999 to 2009, during which he was instrumental in switching the Tigers from a run-based offense to more of a spread attack. Hand reached four state title games and won three of them during Peter’s tenure with the program. After a two-year stint as an assistant on the Morgan staff, Peter took a break from the sidelines for his family until recently, when he was named the new Morgan head football coach.
“With my kids at a young age, I decided I had to take a couple years off, but I saw this timing as incredible to take the job,” says the Clinton resident, who is also the Social Studies Coordinator at Hand. “I felt the town needed someone that lives in the town and dedicated to the program. I’m excited to come back to the game. The town is built around a great academic and athletic tradition, so it’s a great opportunity to build this program.”
As an educator of student-athletes, Peter sees gearing his pupils up for the next scholastic stage of their lives as the top priority, in addition to having them express gratitude for his lessons—no matter when they may come into the young adults’ realization.
“My primary job as a head coach is to prepare them for college and to be great readers and writers that work and study hard. I also want them to believe in themselves. My job is to lay out the blueprint for them to have success in college,” says Peter, who also coached football at Farmington and Law, along with girls’ track at Newington. “The rewards come down to seeing the kids that appreciate the time you spend with them, along with watching your relationships with them grow. One day, they will realize how important what you teach them is. You also have to have dreams because, without them, it’s hard to set goals.”
Hand Head Coach Steve Filippone was impressed by Peter’s knowledge of the sport, along with his focus toward building youngsters into better people even more so than better athletes.
“He brings so much to the table. He is innovative with the game, but he also develops strong relationships with the kids based on respect. He’s the whole package in terms of being an educating coach,” says Filippone. “He is very into his way of thinking as he convinced us to go from power football to a spread offense. He took the first step toward getting us to be a hybrid team with his patience and persistence, yet he always puts the needs of the players first.”
Former Morgan and new Guilford Head Coach Mike Eagle adds that Peter is the ideal selection to be his Huskies’ successor and feels there won’t be much of a change in terms of Xs and Os.
“Peter is a great choice by Morgan. He is a Clinton guy through and through and a great guy to head the program. He and I thought alike in our approach and philosophy. Even our terminology was similar,” says Eagle. “It’s good for the kids, too, because it’ll be an easy transition with a lot of the football philosophy staying the same.”
While altering the offensive landscape at Hand, Peter also got to see firsthand what playing for and preserving a storied legacy is all about.
“When I arrived at Hand, they were a toss/trap running game, but before you know it, we were running the spread, which I was proud of,” says Peter, the first Filippone assistant to become a head coach. “Steve’s assistants know how much time he puts into coaching his team. He knows his teams will be ready for Hand because of the storied tradition, which he instills in his players. I want to do the same at Morgan. I want the players to take great pride in their playing time and know they are playing for themselves, but also the pride of the school.”
Putting the books ahead of the ball, Peter wants to see top academic status out of all his Huskies as he takes time to settle in and get to know his new gridiron home.
“We have some solid returning players that are dedicated to their sport and I will set goals between them and myself. It’s tough because I’ve only met a handful of the players, yet I will know more during training camp,” Peter says. “I want them to all make honor roll during the fall, but I also want them healthy for the year, to attend practice, and work hard. I find that the groups of kids that do the best academically are also the ones that do the best on the field, as well.”