John Jeffire coached for nearly 45 years at the college, high school, and youth levels.

He trained overseas in Sweden in 1980-81 and won the Fyrstads Greco-Roman championship before competing at St. Lawrence University, where he was team captain in 1985. Jeffire's final competitive record was 166-61-3.

In 1989, Jeffire became a senior lecturer in English and head wrestling coach at the University of Findlay. He achieved success no one thought was possible during his eight years at Findlay, producing 43 All-Americans, five individual national champions and six Academic All-Americans.

Despite Findlay being a small NAIA school, his teams competed against the best programs in the country in all divisions, including national powers Ohio State, Nebraska, Michigan State, and Minnesota. Jeffire's teams amassed a 70-22-2 dual meet record, including an 11-8 record against NCAA Division I competition. In 1995, his Roughneck squad brought home the NAIA national team title and Jeffire was named the 1995 NAIA National Wrestling Coach of the Year.

For his accomplishments at Findlay, he was inducted into the Hancock County Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Findlay Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.

Later, as a high school coach in Michigan, he was voted the Michigan Wrestling Coaches Association Regional Coach of the Year on three occasions while mentoring five state champions and 17 state place-winners.

Despite the success on the mat, Jeffire considered his proudest achievement to be the fact that every athlete he coached at Findlay who used four years of eligibility earned their college degree.