VICTORIA, Minn. — Dan O'Brien, the very successful head coach at 5A powerhouse St. Thomas Academy, resigned Thursday and has accepted the job at Holy Family Catholic High School in Victoria.
Two more famous coaches, Dave Nelson and Jeff Ferguson, are coming out of retirement to be assistant coaches for O'Brien.
O'Brien said he couldn't pass this chance up to work with a couple of Hall of Fame coaches.
"For the opportunity to coach with Jeff Ferguson and Dave Nelson. They got 10 state titles between them. And I don't know if this opportunity would come again. In fact, I know it wouldn't come again. So that's what made a very, very difficult decision pretty enticing to join these two guys at Holy Family," O'Brien said.
O'Brien is taking over a program that hasn't won a football game the past two seasons, 21 straight losses dating back to 2020, and has just two wins in the past four years.
O'Brien's record was 49-5 since 2018 at St. Thomas Academy, all five losses in state tournament play.
Nelson and Ferguson, two Hall of Fame head football coaches, are coming out of retirement to join O'Brien at Holy Family.
Ferguson won eight state titles for Totino-Grace, while Nelson won two championships at Blaine and Minnetonka.
Holy Family football was really good from 2008 to 2012, in fact they were state runner-up twice.
So there is a history of success there, and they're hoping this blockbuster move will bring that glory back.
We'll see.