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Boston College Coach Bill O'Brien Headlines Prep Hall of Fame Class

Boston College Coach Bill O'Brien Headlines Prep Hall of Fame Class

Nine new Eagles enshrined on Homecoming Weekend

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Boston College football head coach Bill O’Brien, a member of the St. John’s Prep Class of 1988, returned to campus this past Saturday to be enshrined in the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. The former NCAA Big Ten and Paul “Bear” Bryant College Coach of the Year, O’Brien headlined a star-studded group, including seven new members who graduated after the turn of the century. 

A hard-nosed, two-way lineman for the Eagles, O’Brien served as a quad-captain his senior season. He spent the fall after graduation as a volunteer assistant at St. John’s coaching freshmen under then-head coach and Eagles Hall of Famer Jim O’Leary before enrolling at Brown University in the spring of 1989. A two-time letterman for the Bears playing defensive end and linebacker, O’Brien joined Brown’s football staff for the 1993-94 seasons before beginning a two-decade career as a major college and pro coach.

“For me, at 14 years old, coming to St. John’s was a huge turning point in my life,” said O’Brien, who’s also coached in the SEC and the NFL, during his remarks at the event. “We have this pool of great potential here, and this place is a melting pot of relationships that form amongst students from all over. The training you get for life after college starts here. It did for me. The school and the people I met at the school—my coaches, my teachers and my classmates led me to a path of success.”

All nine of the 2024 inductees were multi-sport athletes in high school, but the primary programs represented were football (three) and swimming (two) along with baseball, golf, tennis, and lacrosse. Terry Bleiler, who chronicled Prep athletics through photography for more than a half century, was awarded the 2024 Crystal Eagle Award. 

Aside from O’Brien, an Andover resident when he played football, basketball, baseball, and track & field at St. John’s, the remaining inductees were current St. John’s Prep assistant swim coach Tom Gately ’98 (Danvers; swimming, water polo), Eric Conrad ’02 (Gloucester; tennis, golf), Jon Loyte ’03 (Gloucester; football, basketball, and baseball), Nick Zolotas ’07 (Peabody; golf, basketball), Ryan Fortin ’12 (North Reading; swimming, water polo), Tucker Mathers ’13 (Boxford; lacrosse, football), Brandon Bingel ’13 (Peabody; baseball, golf) and Johnny Thomas ’14 (Peabody; football, track & field). 

St. John’s Prep Class of 2010 graduate Mike Uva of Peabody, the full-time Weekend Sports Anchor at WPRI-TV in Providence, served as the induction ceremony’s emcee. 

“I continue to be in awe of the talent we’ve enshrined year-over-year since the Millenium,” says Jameson Pelkey, a Georgetown resident now in his sixth year as the Prep’s athletics director. “This year’s class is bookended by a decorated NFL and NCAA coach along with four guys who graduated in just the past 12 years, which is amazing. Maybe even more impressive is where all of these gentlemen have ended up in their various professional lives.”

Collectively, the honorees combined for nine individual or team state titles as Eagles. The list of high-achievers includes a machine-learning executive, a sergeant in the Swampscott Police Department and an officer in the US Navy, among other impressive careers.