St. Joseph’s Puma Football Brotherhood

08/30/2026

The next Spotlight on Pumas in coaching is Coach Timmy Johnson!
Timmy is a 1987 grad of St. Joe. I was honored to play with Timmy for my first 3 years at St. Joe. Timmy came to St Joe as an old school tough ass linebacker from St. Laurence in the Chicago Catholic League. Timmy's career at St. Joe was cut short by a catastrophic and career ending knee injury. However, in true Puma form he didn't sulk or let no longer being able to play end his career in the game. Timmy pivoted and became the defensive line coach for St. Joe. While coaching the Puma TNT he coached Puma greats the likes of Ted Mavity, Phil Miller, John Ryan, Scott Swinford, Scott Brinkman, (before he was an OL), Dave Ernst, Tony Hoop and many others. Beyond his coaching, Timmy is one of the best men, father and husband that I have ever met and has been a close friend for 40+ years. The bio for Coach Johnson is below!

Coached football 27 years over the past 40. Coached wrestling18 years over the last 40 .

(86-87)I was a student / defense line coach junior and senior years at SJC on Bill Regan’s staff, and was assistant wrestling coach at Rensselaer Central HS. Under the famous Joe Burvan. One state qualifier.

Coached three years at my alma mater St Patricia’s. Then I was the DC under the infamous Ricky Taveggia at Our Lady of Loretta in lovely Hometown Illinois.

Went back to SJC in 1992 to work on teacher certification and once again served as the D-line coach . 92’ season we averaged 5 sacks a game, Our DE Aubrey Mc Coy; was The overall NCAA defensive player of the week. He had 8 sacks; blocked punt; and a fumble recovery. The defense only surrendered an average14 points a game all season.

Rensselaer Junior High wrestling bombers had a 14-2 record.

From 1993 - 2003 Timmy coached at his alma mater St Laurence HS in Burbank, IL, DC for ten years. HC for two and AD for two. Qualified for State twice and quarter finalists. Coached numerous all conference and all area. I was RB coach. Timmy coached Joe Martinez who was all state, he rushed for over 2000 yds. 2x state place winner in wrestling. & West Point grad. Joe went on to become a Chinook helicopter pilot, war hero he and his copilot saved over 50 men on their helicopter. He later was honored by the US wrestling hall of fame for his heroics and toughness in battle. He is now the president of St Laurence HS.

While coaching wrestling at St. Laurence he developed the below highly successful wrestlers:

Mark Bybee State wrestling champ & Big ten champ 2x NCAA qualifier.

Tom Ciezki 2x state place winner
1-2nd and first place national champion in GRECO. /Roman. 5th in the Olympic Trials 2x. 2000 & 2004.
1996; (Atlanta)I was Matt side at world team trials when Tom Ciezki tech called the famous Cael Sanderson in two minutes. Tom was a senior Cael was a junior in HS. How I helped Tom to mentally prepare? I took him too Ho***rs between matches.

(03-05)
Eisenhower HS HC soph coach 7-2
(06-07)
4-5th yr. DC state qualifier( Lbs coach) Coached Brandon Williams TE at University of Oregon ; and the Indianapolis Colts.

(12-13)
Evergreen Park High School . Db coach. Team was a 9-4 Semi finalists, 10-1 quarter finals & Conference Champs for first time in school history.
Jaquette McClendon All state WR. Indiana State TE; free agent KC Chiefs.

Multiple years of little league baseball. I was the head coach of a 2nd and 3rd in state 13-14 year old All Star teams.

Currently volunteering at St Laurence HS wrestling. 26’

Volunteering Notre Dame College prep. HS as a DL defense analyst. 26’

08/25/2026

Damn proud to be a SJC alum! Love my PUMA brothers!!

Our next Spotlight on Pumas In Coaching is Brian Hassett. I was fortunate to play with Brian for two years. He was an incredibly talented QB and an even better person. Since graduation from St. Joe he has led historic career journey of success as an Illinois High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame inductee !

Brian Hassett

Brian Hassett is currently an assistant football coach at El Paso-Gridley High School, where he serves as Defensive Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach. He has coached there for seven seasons and is in his 37th year as a varsity coach.
Hassett has coached football for 36 years, including eight years as an assistant coach under Hall of Fame Coach Rich Zinanni. In 2015, he took over the Streator Township High School football program, compiling a record of 13-24 and leading the Bulldogs to a Class 5A playoff appearance in 2017.

As the Head Football Coach at Prairie Central High School from 1999-2014, Hassett compiled an overall record of 98-67 and led the program to 10 playoff appearances. He has coached in two IHSA state championship games—once as an assistant coach at Bishop McNamara in 1998 and once as the head coach at Prairie Central in 2003. He also had the opportunity to coach in the Illinois Coaches Association Shriners All-Star Game three times.

In 2021, Hassett was inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association (IHSFCA) Hall of Fame.
A 1990 graduate of Saint Joseph’s College, Hassett was a one-and-a-half-year starter at quarterback. He also played baseball, where he was a three-year starter at first base and designated hitter. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Physical Education from Saint Joseph’s College and a master’s degree in Physical Education, with an emphasis in coaching, from Ball State University.

Brian and his wife, Traci, who is also a 1990 graduate of Saint Joseph’s College, live in Fairbury, Illinois. They have four children, one son-in-law, and two grandchildren. Traci and their daughter, Abigail, own Once-N-Again Consignment Store, which has been in business for 25

08/24/2026

Our next Spotlight on Pumas In Coaching is Brian Hassett. I was fortunate to play with Brian for two years. He was an incredibly talented QB and an even better person. Since graduation from St. Joe he has led historic career journey of success as an Illinois High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame inductee !

Brian Hassett

Brian Hassett is currently an assistant football coach at El Paso-Gridley High School, where he serves as Defensive Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach. He has coached there for seven seasons and is in his 37th year as a varsity coach.
Hassett has coached football for 36 years, including eight years as an assistant coach under Hall of Fame Coach Rich Zinanni. In 2015, he took over the Streator Township High School football program, compiling a record of 13-24 and leading the Bulldogs to a Class 5A playoff appearance in 2017.

As the Head Football Coach at Prairie Central High School from 1999-2014, Hassett compiled an overall record of 98-67 and led the program to 10 playoff appearances. He has coached in two IHSA state championship games—once as an assistant coach at Bishop McNamara in 1998 and once as the head coach at Prairie Central in 2003. He also had the opportunity to coach in the Illinois Coaches Association Shriners All-Star Game three times.

In 2021, Hassett was inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association (IHSFCA) Hall of Fame.
A 1990 graduate of Saint Joseph’s College, Hassett was a one-and-a-half-year starter at quarterback. He also played baseball, where he was a three-year starter at first base and designated hitter. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Physical Education from Saint Joseph’s College and a master’s degree in Physical Education, with an emphasis in coaching, from Ball State University.

Brian and his wife, Traci, who is also a 1990 graduate of Saint Joseph’s College, live in Fairbury, Illinois. They have four children, one son-in-law, and two grandchildren. Traci and their daughter, Abigail, own Once-N-Again Consignment Store, which has been in business for 25

08/16/2026

Best of luck this year to Puma Football Brotherhood Alum and current Ball State Football Coach Dave Ernst.

Dave is an ‘88 St Joe grad. Coach Ernst earned a phenomenal reputation as one of the brightest and most creative offensive strategists and play callers in Illinois high school football history.

38 years of high school football coaching experience, including 30 years as Offensive Coordinator.

38 years as Head Coach with a career record of 67–26.

Led three of the top 50 offenses in Illinois high school history.

Offensive Coordinator during a 50-game winning streak.

Coached in 101 playoff games, including 8 State Championship appearances (1 as Head Coach).

Five-time State Champion.

Nationally recognized for streamlining the recruiting process for college coaches.

Dave Ernst — Ball State Football Coach Bio

Ball State University Football Dave Ernst, Senior Analyst, Defense on their 2026 coaching staff!!!

Coaching background:

Professional Experience:
1989-1990: Assistant Freshman Football Coach at Providence Catholic High School.

1990: Head Freshman Football Coach at Providence Catholic High School.

1991: Sophomore Defensive Coordinator at Providence Catholic High School.

1992: Head Sophomore Coach at Providence Catholic High School.

1993-1994: Varsity Assistant Coach at Providence Catholic High School.

1995-2000: Varsity Offensive Coordinator at Providence Catholic High School.

2001-2009: Varsity Offensive Coordinator at Lincoln-Way Central High School.

2010-2011: Varsity Offensive Coordinator at Lincoln-Way West High School.

2012-2019: Head Football Coach Lincoln Way-West High School.

2020-2025: Offensive Coordinator at Lincoln-Way West High School.

2026-Current: Senior Defensive Ananalyst Ball State University

Players Coached -

Pete Bercich: Notre Dame University, 9 years with the Minnesota Vikings.

Dan Maly: Purdue University.

Justin Orr: Notre Dame University.

Mike Uremovich: Head Coach Ball State University.

Jeff Knowles: Defensive Coordinator Ball State University.

Brandon Johnson: Western Michigan University.

Colin Johnson: Ball State University, Current Offensive Line Coach Michigan State

Matt Uremovich: Georgia Tech University.

Eric Steinbach: University of Iowa, 10 years in the NFL

Danny Olszta: University of Iowa.

Rob Ninkovich: Purdue University, 12 Years in the NFL, two-time Super Bowl Champion.

BJ Bello: Illinois State University, 5 Years in the NFL.

Colin McGovern: Notre Dame University.

Justin Witt: North Carolina State University.

Josh Veldman: Northwestern University

Andrew Gay: Defensive Back Coach at Northwestern University

08/06/2026

Puma Football Brotherhood Alumni Dan Pippin. Head Coach for the Thomas University Nighthawks!

Bio
Dan Pippin enters his first season as head football coach in the 2026 campaign.

Prior to joining the Night Hawks staff, His collegiate and professional career also includes multiple seasons coaching internationally with head coaching roles with he Lazio Ducks (2020–2022) in Rome, Italy, the Hungarian National Team of American Football (2022), the Lübeck Cougars (2023) in Germany, and most recently Pippin served as head coach of the Bialystok Lowlanders of the Polish Football League from 2024-2025. Polish Football League from 2024-2025.

Domestically, Pippin held the title of Co-Offensive Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach at fellow SUN Conference member Webber International University in 2023. He spent the 2021 season as offensive coordinator at Rochester Community and Technical College, where his offense ranked second nationally in rushing and placed in the top five in several major offensive categories. Five players earned all-conference recognition under his leadership.

Before coaching at the collegiate and professional levels, Pippin compiled a distinguished 30-year high school coaching career across Ohio, Michigan and South Carolina. He served 24 years as a head coach at Tawas Area (1996–2000), South Aiken (2000–2006), North Augusta (2006–2013), and Greenwood (2013–2019), amassing a career record of 170–93. He has been honored as Region, State and National Coach of the Year, and more than 124 of his former players have gone on to play college football, including five who reached the NFL. Pippin currently sits at 189 career head coaching wins overall across all levels.

A 1990 graduate of Saint Joseph's College, Pippin was a three-year starter and team captain as a senior. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Physical Education and a Master's Degree in Divergent Learning.

Dan and his wife Laura have three children, one son-in-law, and two granddaughters.

08/01/2026

Wishing the best of luck to all members of the Puma Brotherhood who will be starting another year as coaches for middle school , high school, and college football programs this week. !

Puma  Puma  Puma !
Pride Pride Pride !
St Joe!

07/19/2026

Legendary members of the Puma Football Brotherhood from the ‘70’s & 80’s! Over 40 years later and the Puma Brotherhood bond just gets stronger with time! Puma Puma Puma Pride Pride Pride St Joe!

Can you name each Puma Legend in the pic?!?! Give it a shot !!

07/11/2026

Members of the legendary Puma Football class of ‘87 !

07/04/2026

Happy 250th Birthday to the greatest nation on earth !

06/26/2026

Good morning fellow Pumas! I hope all is well. However, since Indy will be hit by monsoon's today, the 7th annual golf trip has been cancelled. Myself and other alumni will schedule another trip next summer "hopefully" closer to Rensselaer so we can "play golf" and hit up the WAGONWHEEL afterwards! I have couple text threads with approximately 40 people and will inform y'all what we are thinking about doing going forward! I am gonna be honest, this has been one of my favorite weekends of the year since Scottie Evans and BUD decided to start this several years ago! Take care PUMAS and see you next summer!