The Revere Board of Education approved Robert Nickol to serve as the Minutemen football coach at a meeting on Tuesday.

Nickol is set to replace Robb Karovic, who recently resigned after holding the position for the past two season.

Nickol has served in several coaching positions since 2005, including a four-year stint as St. Vincent-St. Mary coach and an 11-year stint as a Barberton assistant.

Nickol led the St. Vincent St. Mary football program from 2018-2021 and compiled a 24-16 record with three Division III playoff appearances (2019, 2020 and 2021). The Irish went 2-3 in the playoffs under his guidance.

Nickol stepped down as STVM coach after the 2021 season. He led the Irish to records of 7-3 in 2018, 8-3 in 2019, 5-3 in 2020 and 4-7 in 2021.

“My family and I are thrilled and blessed to become a part of the Revere community as your next football coach and educator,” Nickol said in a prepared statement.

“We want to thank [Revere Superintendent] Dr. [Michael] Tefs and the rest of the team for giving us this opportunity. We can not wait to get started working with the young people of Revere."

Nickol, a 2002 graduate of Barberton High School, came to STVM with 13 years of football coaching experience with stints at his alma mater and at Hickory Ridge in North Carolina.

Nickol took the STVM job after serving as Barberton's offensive coordinator and quarterback coach under Magics coach Tony Gotto. Nickol helped lead Barberton's 2017 team to a 10-0 regular season, a Division II regional final appearance and a 12-1 overall record.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to hire Bobby Nickol," Revere Athletic Director Don Seeker said in a prepared statement.

"He checked all of the boxes of what we were looking for in both the classroom and on the football field. The Revere Local School District has a rich history and tradition of academic excellence. We are hiring a great educator who will also serve as our head football coach.”

Revere went 4-5 in 2020 and 3-7 in 2021 under Karovic. The 2020 team went 1-1 in the Division III playoffs.

Nickol, a Doylestown resident, has a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Kent State University and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the American College of Education

Nickol has 14 years of teaching experience, and is currently teaching modern United States history courses and a psychology/sociology class for students in grades 10-12 at Barberton High School.

STVM hired alum and former Revere coach Terry Cistone as its football coach in November to replace Nickol.

Cistone, a 1979 graduate of STVM, has 38 years of coaching experience. He was a STVM assistant coach to Nickol as the special teams coordinator in 2020 and the running backs coach in 2021.

Cistone was also an assistant coach to his father, John Cistone, in 1981 and 1982 when the Irish won back-to-back Division III state championships. Those STVM teams combined to post a 23-2-1 record.

Cistone's resume includes assistant coach positions at Firestone, Buchtel, Revere and Lake, and he was Revere's coach from 2003-2009 and in 2019. He led Revere to a 39-42 record in eight seasons with a Division III playoff appearance in 2005.

Cistone, a Uniontown resident, graduated from the University of Akron and earned a Master’s Degree from Ashland University. He is the Director of Compliance and a Physical Education teacher at STVM after a teaching career that spanned over 30 years in the Akron Public Schools and at Revere.

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Robert Nickol hired as Revere Minutemen football coach