St. Pierre takes football reins at St. John’s Prep

DANVERS – Saying that he grew up on the sidelines at St. John’s Prep’s Cronin Field, former NFL quarterback Brian St. Pierre said he was honored and humbled to be taking over as head football coach at the school.St. Pierre, a 1998 graduate who went onto star at Boston College and then play for five NFL teams, was announced as only The Prep’s third football coach since 1967. He succeeds Jim O’Leary, who coached Eagles football from 1984 through last fall (30 years) before announcing Thursday he was stepping down.”I grew up on the sidelines at St. John’s Prep,” said St. Pierre, whose father, David, an orthopedic surgeon, has served as the team’s doctor for more than two decades. “I played for coach O’Leary and I know him well.”He’s worked hard and been very successful, so it’s a real honor for me to follow in his footsteps.”St. Pierre was the quarterback, and O’Leary the coach, in 1997 when St. John’s went 12-0, including a 25-0 Super Bowl victory over New Bedford. Included in that undefeated season was a thrilling 15-14 win over Xaverian on Thanksgiving that had been dubbed as the “Holy War” in the local media as both spent the season as the Nos. 1 and 2 ranked teams.”I’m glad for my sake we won that game,” joked St. Pierre. “Five of their guys ended up going to BC with me, so I’m really glad we won that game. It made my life easier for four years.”Fifteen players from that game went onto either play for Division 1 colleges or the pros (though not all of them in football).”I feel a real sense of responsibility to continue the winning that (O’Leary) and coach (Fred) Glatz helped to create at The Prep,” St. Pierre said.After graduating at St. John’s, St. Pierre red-shirted and then spent two years at BC backing up Tim Hasselbeck. He won the starting job his junior year, and for the next two seasons the Eagles went 8-4 during the regular season and St. Pierre quarterbacked them to two bowl victories. He was the MVP of the Motor City Bowl as a senior, leading the Eagles to a 51-26 victory over Toledo.He was drafted in the sixth round by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and went onto play for them, along with the Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens and Carolina Panthers before retiring after the 2010 season. He spent two years as the sideline reporter for BC football before coming back to The Prep last fall to coach the quarterbacks.”I came back here and had a blast,” he said. “I love football and wanted to say around it.He said he knew he wanted to coach, but didn’t want to put his family through the rigors of doing it at a high level, where moving around might be an issue, “so this seems to be the best way to stay in it.”I loved being with the kids last fall,” he said.O’Leary steps down after winning 217 games during his career. Aside from the 1997 Super Bowl championship, he coached the Eagles a state title in 2012.”Serving as football coach at St. John’s has been a privilege and an honor,” said O’Leary. “I’ve had remarkable support from students, parents, administrators, and my family – I couldn’t have done my job without them. I’m going to miss the daily interactions with players and coaches, and the local media too. But I am looking forward to having the time I need to devote to our overall athletics program,” said O’Leary.O’Leary noted that The Prep is on target to expand to a middle school, beginning in 2015, and that will involve a full-fledge athletic program for grades 6 through 8 too.”My role is expanding,” he said, “and I have to devote my energies to it.”