Follow Coach Casey on Twitter

Hall of Fame coach John Casey, now in his 38th season as the leader of the Jumbos, is one of the most respected head coaches in college baseball.

In January 2020, Coach Casey was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame. He was part of an induction class that also incuded Tim Corbin (Vanderbilt University), Wayne King, Jr. (Joliet Junior College), Mike Kinnison (Delta State University), Mike Metheny (Southeastern Oklahoma State University) and Dennis Rogers (Riverside City College).

"To be selected to the ABCA Hall of Fame is an extraordinary honor," Coach Casey said. "My association with the ABCA was one of the best decisions I ever made. I have met and made friends with incredible people through the ABCA. Each time I leave a board meeting I am inspired to be a better person by the other men in that room. I also want to thank Tufts for all the support throughout the years. It is a spectacular place to work with the absolute best student-athletes and coaches."

A member of the ABCA leadership team for several years, Coach Casey served as President of the organization in 2016. He had served as a Vice President for four years and is a member of the ABCA Board of Directors.

On the field, Coach Casey's Jumbos have been one of the best teams in New England throughout his tenure. In 2019, he guided the Jumbos to their sixth New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) championship and third in the last four years. The Jumbos finished 31-11 and made their eighth NCAA appearance under Coach Casey, advancing to the Regional final.

The Jumbos earned the 750th win of Coach Casey's career with their final victory of the 2019 season, 7-4 against Penn State Harrisburg which advanced Tufts to the NCAA Regional final. Coach Casey became the 16th active coach and 29th all-time in Divsion III to reach 750 wins. After 37 seasons leading the Jumbo program, he now has a 750-423-5 record (.639 winning percentage).

Tufts has played in the NCAA Tournament six times in the last 10 years, including 2019, 2017, 2016, 2014, 2011, and 2010. The 1995 and 2002 Jumbo teams also qualified for NCAA's under Coach Casey. In 2016, Tufts advanced further than any New England team in the NCAA Regionals, reaching the championship round before falling to eventual national runner-up Keystone College. The Jumbos earned #1 seeds at the 2010 and 2011 NCAA New England Regional Tournaments.

NESCAC's Coach of the Year three times, Casey's teams have featured five players who signed professionally and numerous All-Americans. Randy Newsom, a 2004 Tufts graduate, signed with the Boston Red Sox. He was traded to Cleveland as part of a deal for major leaguer Coco Crisp, and he advanced to the Indians' Triple A affiliate in Buffalo. Pitcher Jeff Taglienti and outfielder Dan Callahan are also Jumbos coached by Casey who were drafted by Major League organizations. R.J. Hall, a senior pitcher on the 2019 team, was the most recent Jumbo named a D3baseball.com All-American.

Tufts players are also recognized for their academic achievement and commitment to community service during Casey's tenure. The Jumbo baseball team received  an ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award for achieving a grade point average of 3.0 or better for the 2019-20 year. The Jumbo team carries an overall grade point average of 3.24 following an outstanding 3.57 mark for the spring 2020 semester. The Jumbos hold an annual 100-inning charity game supporting Homes for Our Troops among their many community service activities. In 2017, Cooper Martin, a courageous young boy who has a brain tumor was drafted by the Tufts baseball through Team IMPACT, a non-profit organization which works to improve the quality of life for children facing life-threatening and chronic illnesses by pairing them with collegiate athletic teams.

Coach Casey is also actively involved with advancing the game overseas as part of the International Sports Groups' (ISG) coaching clincics. He has made trips to Sweden, Curacao and Switzerland providing instruction to baseball coaches in those countries. He also led the Tufts team on a trip to the Dominican Republic last Thanksgiving where they played a handful of games and performed community service.

In May 2019 Coach Casey entered into the Hall of Fame of the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA), for which he has served many years in a leadership capacity. In 2000, the NEIBA presented him with the Jack Butterfield Award, its most prestigious honor, given to an active coach who exhibits the integrity and dedication to the game of college baseball that Coach Butterfield demonstrated throughout his career. Coach Casey received the Andy Baylock Distinguished Service Award from the NEIBA in 2005, recognizing his significant contributions to the betterment of New England college baseball.

A Jamaica Plain, Mass. native, Coach Casey in November 1999 was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Boston Park League, the oldest amateur baseball league in the country. A 1980 Tufts graduate, he helped pitch the Jumbos to consecutive ECAC Division II-III Tournament appearances. Also a tight end on 1979's undefeated Tufts football team, he returned to Tufts a year later as a baseball and football assistant. He replaced Lee Sargent as head baseball coach in 1984.

Several former players and assistant coaches under Casey have been successful coaches at the college or high school level. Paul Svagdis, a 1993 graduate, guided Azusa Pacific University to three NAIA College World Series berths recently.

Off the field, Casey was promoted to Assistant Athletics Director at Tufts in 2001 and currently holds the title of Associate Athletics Director. In 2017, the Jumbo football program and the Friends of Tufts Football presented the John Baronian Distinguished Jumbo Football Award to Coach Casey.

Coach Casey and his wife Diane live in Milford. They have four sons - Brian, Kevin, Brendan and Chris. All have followed in their father's footsteps as Brian is an assistant baseball coach at William & Mary, Kevin is the head coach at Johnson & Wales, Brendan works under his dad at Tufts and Chris works with the Northeast Longhorns AAU team.