John Andreoli retiring as St. John's football coach
Dec 9, 2022 6:14:07 GMT -5
rgs318, hc6774, and 1 more like this
Post by sader1970 on Dec 9, 2022 6:14:07 GMT -5
A nice Holy Cross Worcester connection to our football team. John's one of the good guys:
www.telegram.com/story/sports/high-school/2022/12/08/st-johns-football-coach-john-andreoli-steps-down/69710331007/?utm_source=telegram-DailyBriefing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_briefing&utm_term=hero&utm_content=NTEG-MASSACHUSETTS-WORCESTER-NLETTER65
It was a tremendous experience for me': St. John's football coach John Andreoli steps down
Rich Garven
Telegram & Gazette
John Andreoli announced he was stepping down as football coach at St. John's on Thursday, after guiding the Pioneers to a 156-64 record and six Super Bowl championships in his tenure.
SHREWSBURY — When St. John’s High football coach John Andreoli and some of his longtime assistants walked onto the field at Malden Catholic on Thanksgiving eve, it brought back memories.
Memories of the first game they coached together, that being a 25-8 loss to MC to open the 2004 season that led one colleague on the Shrewsbury campus to jokingly tell the new staff it might soon be unemployed.
That, of course, didn’t turn out to be the case and here they were, 18 years later, back where it all began.
“So, a couple of guys on my staff, Bill Feraco and Sean Hastings and Paul Capstick, we chuckled a little bit when we walked back on the field there because we were back there for the first time since that game,” Andreoli recalled.
“I guess that was the first one you always remember and now looking back on it, that’s going to be the last one at the same place.”
The Pioneers defeated the Lancers, 56-20, in the long-awaited rematch to end the season with a three-game winning streak and, as it turned out, Andreoli’s final game as coach at his alma mater.
Andreoli informed St. John’s headmaster Alex Zequeira and athletic director Mike Mead of his decision to step down Monday and the administration met with the players and team personnel Thursday afternoon to update them on the situation.
Andreoli had contemplated retirement following last season, but determined the time wasn’t right.
“It was a tremendous experience for me,” Andreoli, 63, said. “I got way more out of it than I ever could have put in. I was so privileged and honored to be at St. John’s and coach those kids.
“But there is never a perfect time and it’s never easy to walk away from something you love to do, but for me it’s the right time.”
St. John's head coach John Andreoli talks to the team after his 200th game as coach on Friday, September 17, 2021.
Andreoli cited his age and his business – he’s the president and CEO of the Worcester-based Sullivan Insurance Group – as the reasons to depart St. John’s, from which he graduated in 1978 and was inducted into the Pioneers Athletic Hall of Fame in 2021 for his prowess as an athlete (football, basketball, golf) and coach.
The Pioneers went 156-64 (.709) under Andreoli’s watch, advancing to nine Super Bowls and winning six of them, including the Division 3 state championship in 2017 at Gillette Stadium. He ranks first in school history and 19th all-time in Central Mass. in career wins and checks in sixth in CMass in winning percentage among those who coached at least 10 seasons.
“We had some great championships in Central Mass. and a lot of kids were part of a couple of them while they were at St. John’s, so it’s just been a great experience,” said Andreoli, who was raised in the Tatnuck Square area of Worcester and has resided in Shrewsbury for the past 30-plus years
“And the other thing is, I think about all the refs and the Central Mass. football community and they’re a great group of people, class people, and I’m so pleased to see the kids from Central Mass. be able to go on and do great things collegiately and many of them in the pros. It’s really neat to see.”
Andreoli, a standout football player at Holy Cross, from which he graduated with a degree in economics in 1982 and was inducted into the school’s Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 2000, didn’t single out any of the Pioneers’ many successful teams, but had plenty of praise for the 2017 undefeated state champs when specifically asked about them.
The Pioneers went 13-0, capped by a 35-32 win over North Attleborough. They set a school record for wins in the season and scored 588 points, 12 short of tying the state record Everett set in 1914 while also going 13-0.
Senior quarterback Steven Bucciaglia threw for more than 3,600 yards and 48 touchdowns to the likes of Jay Brunelle, Eamonn Dennis, Coleman Drugotch, and Zach Pedone while Colin Deso and senior Peter Oliver led a deep backfield and Federico Ernst and Neal Nasuti anchored a dominant line. Linebacker Liam Doran led the defense.
John Andreoli departs St. John's after a Hall of Fame career as a player and coach for the Shrewsbury school.
“The thing that I remember most about that team is how well they played together in all three phases of the game,” Andreoli said. “They were very complimentary defensively and offensively.
“It was a good football team and offensively under Chris Moriarity, the offensive coordinator, we had a great year that year and scored a lot of points.”
Besides the people, the things Andreoli will miss most are practice and preparation.
“That has always been the joy of teaching and coaching for me,” he said. “Helping the kids understand that you have to fall in love with the process of being great every day and doing the things you need to do, the little things.”
And while bus rides always seem to top the list of longtime coaches who are stepping down when it comes to what they’ll miss the least, that isn’t the case with Andreoli, who plans to remain involved with the game as a fan and someone who will help out from time to time.
“Kind of the interesting thing about it is we have those yellow school buses and it gives you a chance to think about things,” he said. “I guess it’s a little bit bumpy, but it reminds you that everybody has to make sacrifices to play this game and that’s what’s so great about it.”
—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @richgarventg.
Rich Garven
Telegram & Gazette
John Andreoli announced he was stepping down as football coach at St. John's on Thursday, after guiding the Pioneers to a 156-64 record and six Super Bowl championships in his tenure.
SHREWSBURY — When St. John’s High football coach John Andreoli and some of his longtime assistants walked onto the field at Malden Catholic on Thanksgiving eve, it brought back memories.
Memories of the first game they coached together, that being a 25-8 loss to MC to open the 2004 season that led one colleague on the Shrewsbury campus to jokingly tell the new staff it might soon be unemployed.
That, of course, didn’t turn out to be the case and here they were, 18 years later, back where it all began.
“So, a couple of guys on my staff, Bill Feraco and Sean Hastings and Paul Capstick, we chuckled a little bit when we walked back on the field there because we were back there for the first time since that game,” Andreoli recalled.
“I guess that was the first one you always remember and now looking back on it, that’s going to be the last one at the same place.”
The Pioneers defeated the Lancers, 56-20, in the long-awaited rematch to end the season with a three-game winning streak and, as it turned out, Andreoli’s final game as coach at his alma mater.
Andreoli informed St. John’s headmaster Alex Zequeira and athletic director Mike Mead of his decision to step down Monday and the administration met with the players and team personnel Thursday afternoon to update them on the situation.
Andreoli had contemplated retirement following last season, but determined the time wasn’t right.
“It was a tremendous experience for me,” Andreoli, 63, said. “I got way more out of it than I ever could have put in. I was so privileged and honored to be at St. John’s and coach those kids.
“But there is never a perfect time and it’s never easy to walk away from something you love to do, but for me it’s the right time.”
St. John's head coach John Andreoli talks to the team after his 200th game as coach on Friday, September 17, 2021.
Andreoli cited his age and his business – he’s the president and CEO of the Worcester-based Sullivan Insurance Group – as the reasons to depart St. John’s, from which he graduated in 1978 and was inducted into the Pioneers Athletic Hall of Fame in 2021 for his prowess as an athlete (football, basketball, golf) and coach.
The Pioneers went 156-64 (.709) under Andreoli’s watch, advancing to nine Super Bowls and winning six of them, including the Division 3 state championship in 2017 at Gillette Stadium. He ranks first in school history and 19th all-time in Central Mass. in career wins and checks in sixth in CMass in winning percentage among those who coached at least 10 seasons.
“We had some great championships in Central Mass. and a lot of kids were part of a couple of them while they were at St. John’s, so it’s just been a great experience,” said Andreoli, who was raised in the Tatnuck Square area of Worcester and has resided in Shrewsbury for the past 30-plus years
“And the other thing is, I think about all the refs and the Central Mass. football community and they’re a great group of people, class people, and I’m so pleased to see the kids from Central Mass. be able to go on and do great things collegiately and many of them in the pros. It’s really neat to see.”
Andreoli, a standout football player at Holy Cross, from which he graduated with a degree in economics in 1982 and was inducted into the school’s Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 2000, didn’t single out any of the Pioneers’ many successful teams, but had plenty of praise for the 2017 undefeated state champs when specifically asked about them.
The Pioneers went 13-0, capped by a 35-32 win over North Attleborough. They set a school record for wins in the season and scored 588 points, 12 short of tying the state record Everett set in 1914 while also going 13-0.
Senior quarterback Steven Bucciaglia threw for more than 3,600 yards and 48 touchdowns to the likes of Jay Brunelle, Eamonn Dennis, Coleman Drugotch, and Zach Pedone while Colin Deso and senior Peter Oliver led a deep backfield and Federico Ernst and Neal Nasuti anchored a dominant line. Linebacker Liam Doran led the defense.
John Andreoli departs St. John's after a Hall of Fame career as a player and coach for the Shrewsbury school.
“The thing that I remember most about that team is how well they played together in all three phases of the game,” Andreoli said. “They were very complimentary defensively and offensively.
“It was a good football team and offensively under Chris Moriarity, the offensive coordinator, we had a great year that year and scored a lot of points.”
Besides the people, the things Andreoli will miss most are practice and preparation.
“That has always been the joy of teaching and coaching for me,” he said. “Helping the kids understand that you have to fall in love with the process of being great every day and doing the things you need to do, the little things.”
And while bus rides always seem to top the list of longtime coaches who are stepping down when it comes to what they’ll miss the least, that isn’t the case with Andreoli, who plans to remain involved with the game as a fan and someone who will help out from time to time.
“Kind of the interesting thing about it is we have those yellow school buses and it gives you a chance to think about things,” he said. “I guess it’s a little bit bumpy, but it reminds you that everybody has to make sacrifices to play this game and that’s what’s so great about it.”
—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @richgarventg.
