St. John's announces new coach

BY Bill Doyle
CFP Correspondent
 
St. John’s High School has a tradition of winning football games and John Vassar, star running back on the school’s 2010 Central Mass. Division 1 Super Bowl championship team, is well aware of that.
So he knows the expectations will be high when he becomes the Shrewsbury school’s next varsity head football coach in the fall. Vassar, a Worcester native and 2011 St. John’s graduate, was announced as the school’s new head coach on Thursday, Jan. 26, to replace John Andreoli, who stepped down in December after 19 seasons. Mr. Vassar served as an assistant coach at St. John’s last season.
 
“I stand on the shoulders of giants,” Mr. Vassar said. “I’ve learned a ton from Coach Andreoli over the years about how to handle some of that pressure when I was here at St. John’s and in the relationship that I’ve had with him over the past 10 or so years.”
Mr. Andreoli, 63, stepped down to concentrate on his role as president and CEO of the Sullivan Insurance Group in Worcester. The 1978 St. John’s graduate posted the most victories of any football coach at his alma mater. His Pioneers went 156-64 and won five Super Bowls (2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010) and a state championship (2017).
So what will it be like to follow in his footsteps?
“Right, that shadow is there, of course,” Mr. Vassar said. “It’s not necessarily a replacement of the legacy, it’s building. He’s a good friend of mine, a mentor, and I think the best way for me to lead forward is to respect his legacy, understand the breath of that and make sure I understand the learnings of that as I build forward.”
After joining the highly competitive Catholic Conference, the Pioneers posted records of 5-6 in 2021 and 4-7 last year, their first losing records since 1996.
“The way I look at it is, yes, the Catholic Conference is one of the most difficult conferences,” Mr. Vassar said, “if not the most difficult conference, in our state, but we have the kids. We have the kids in this area to do it. I believe in the guys I want to bring on staff and I believe in my ability to rise to the task and be competitive. I demand that out of my student-athletes as well and they’ll get my 110 percent every step of the way.”
Mr. Vassar played three seasons of varsity football at St. John’s and made the Worcester Telegram & Gazette Super Team as a senior running back. He also played football at Wesleyan University and he served as an assistant coach at Doherty High School in 2018 and at St. Paul Diocesan Junior-Senior High School in 2021, but he’s never been a head coach before. Then again, neither was Mr. Andreoli before St. John’s hired him.
“Vassar is an outstanding choice to lead the St. John’s football program,” Mr. Andreoli said. “Vassar is a proven leader, mentor, and outstanding role model for the student-athletes. He has an outstanding leadership skill set, excellent communication skills and a high energy approach to the game - all of which are a strong foundation for a successful head coaching career in the Catholic Conference at St. John’s.”
Headmaster Alex Zequeira said St. John’s wanted a coach who was committed to the mission and values of the Catholic and Xaverian Brothers school, who had experienced success in football and understood the challenge of coaching in such a highly competitive athletic program, who could inspire and motivate his players as athletes and students, and who could continue the school’s tradition of excellence. Mr. Zequeira said Mr. Vassar checked all those boxes.
While Mr. Vassar hasn’t been a head coach, he has developed leadership skills as regional director of the Legacy New England Football Organization. Mr. Vassar said he started his program with one team of 14 youths playing seven-on-seven touch football and expanded it to 14 teams of 14 players while providing high quality football development and SAT prep mentoring. He plans to step down from that role to join St. John’s full-time.
 
“Really, really excited for this opportunity to give back,” Mr. Vassar said. “I’ve been doing a ton of work football related the past six years, training athletes, building a football community in the Boston area and I finally thought it’s time to bring it back home where I belong.”
 
Mr. Vassar becomes only the fourth varsity head football coach at St. John’s since 1969. Bob Bradley coached for 15 years, Tony Wood for 20 and Mr. Andreoli the last 19.
At 29 years old, Mr. Vassar was the youngest of the four when hired.
On July 1, Mr. Vassar will also become the first director of community outreach and partnerships at St. John’s. Mr. Zequeira said Mr. Vassar will work with the school’s admissions team to broaden outreach efforts and with the school’s advancement team and fundraising efforts, and he will also develop summer internships and employment for St. John’s students and recent graduates.
 
Mr. Vassar played running back and linebacker, but he prefers offense.
“I’m an offensive guy, my guys know that,” he said. “I like to see points on the board. I scheme up a lot in my head. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.”
His goal is to build trust with all his players.
“I’ll never be the type of person to berate a coach or a player in front of others,” he said. “I want to make sure that people have trust in me and that they can come to me with whatever’s on their mind, but they also understand that Coach Vassar is going to set us in the right direction.”
 
Mr. Vassar describes himself as a Christian, but he is not Catholic. Nevertheless, he believes strongly in Catholic education.
He said spiritual leaders at St. John’s taught him that “having faith in God to understand that even when things are hectic when you believe in Him, in God, anything is possible.”
Such as Mr. Vassar becoming head coach at his alma mater.