Chaffee is the lone volleyball inductee in this year’s class and what a run as a coach he has had over the past 33 seasons.
Born August 15, 1958, he is a 1976 Ursuline High School graduate, later earning his undergraduate (1982) and graduate degrees (1992) from Youngstown State University.
A teacher, principal and coach over the past five decades, his run as a volleyball coach includes 26 years at Windham High School, four years at Lordstown H.S. and three years as head coach of the Newbury Black Knights.
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In 791 scholastic games coached, he has led those three aforementioned schools to a combined 548-243 (.693) overall mark, which ranks 18th all-time on the Ohio volleyball coaching list for total wins.
He has led his teams to 11 league titles, 26 sectional championships, 10 district crowns and three regional runner-up finishes.
A 2005 inductee into the Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame, he has earned 16 District ‘Coach of the Year’ awards and is a 12-time league ‘Coach of the Year’ honoree.
He has been presented the OHSVCA ‘Coaches Achievement Award’ – he was also a state ‘Coach of the Year’ finalist – while the OHSAA has also honored him with its prestigious Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity award.
He is also a five-time Cleveland Plain Dealer and nine-time Akron Touchdown Club ‘Coach of the Year’ honoree as well.
While in high school and college he did not participate in sports, his coaching, however, and the record he has accumulated over the years speaks for itself.
In addition to volleyball, he spent 14 years as a track & field coach (seven years as head coach) for the Windham Bombers and had the honor of coaching Ralph Mickens, Ohio’s state champion in the 400m in 1984.
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He also spent three years as head softball coach for the Lordstown Red Devils where he coached Kristi Goodrich, a twirler who set the Ohio state softball record with 42 strikeouts in a game, that coming during the 1998 season.
Although that record has since been broken, Goodrich remains third all-time in the state in that category.
He has also served as Mayor of Lordstown from 2004-12.
He and his wife, Kathy, are the parents of a son, Scott, and daughter, Keeley.
They reside in Lordstown.
