New era starts for St. Viator
The name lends itself perfectly to what St. Viator hopes will be an era of football success.
Brandon New, who was a part of all eight of Driscoll's state football titles as a player or a coach, was named Wednesday as the new head coach at St. Viator.
New was the head coach in Driscoll's last season before the school closed and spent the last two years as an assistant at Benet to Pat New (no relation).
"When (St. Viator) came available to me it was a no-brainer and it's something similar to all I've experienced," said Brandon New, who also played four years of Division I football at Holy Cross. "They have had a lot of success over the last few years and I hope to bring to the table a little boost to take it to the next level."
New replaces Chris Kirkpatrick, who will be taking over as athletic director at Bishop McNamara in Kankakee. Kirkpatrick was 48-48 in 10 years at Viator with four playoff trips and a share of the East Suburban Catholic Conference title in 2006.
St. Viator athletic director Tim Carlson said New was chosen from a pool of nearly 50 applicants.
"He certainly has a great deal of passion and enthusiasm for football and talking to him, it's infectious," Carlson said. "Everybody I talked to said he's good football coach who really knows the game and gets along with his players and the community.
"Ultimately one of the greatest things is he has a championship pedigree and has been around a program that experienced a great deal of success. Hopefully he can bring that road map with him and tell our kids what they have to do if they want to reach those types of levels."
New was a sophomore callup when Driscoll won its first state title in 1991 and his 10 years as an assistant included the program's state-record of seven consecutive titles.
"Our final candidates were all outstanding and truly committed to St. Viator," said the Rev. Robert M. Egan, C.S.V., president of St. Viator, in a release from the school. "In the end, we are very excited to welcome Brandon to the St. Viator community.
"I am convinced that Brandon brings the passion, enthusiasm, commitment and excellence that have always been part of our athletic tradition. He is a winner, and he will bring that experience and success to our football program."
New said a big part of the experience is "I've been blessed to coach under and with great head coaches" in Tim Racki and Mike Burzawa at Driscoll and Pat New at Benet. Racki is at Nazareth, one of Viator's East Suburban Catholic Conference rivals, and Burzawa is at Evanston.
Brandon New was Driscoll's defensive coordinator for three years and in his year as head coach was 9-3 with a trip to the Class 4A state quarterfinals. He also coached on the offensive side of the ball at Driscoll.
"No. 1 we coach to win and our kids will play the game to win, but it's winning the right way," New said. "It comes from having morals and values and character and believing in something.
"I'm never complacent. I always work to be the best and I expect the same out of my players."
Working at Benet also helped give New some familiarity with the ESCC. His goal is to put Viator in a position to be with the upper echelon programs in the league such as Joliet Catholic, Carmel, Marist and Nazareth.
"I'm so eager to meet the players and the coaches and get everything rolling," New said. "I really hope our players are excited as well.
"One thing I was told by Father Egan was I came across as being passionate and committed to what I do. There's nowhere I'd rather be than on the sidelines on Friday nights."