SHREWSBURY, Mass. - St. John's High School named John Vassar as their new head football coach Thursday.
Vassar played at St. John's, where he was a two-way star, graduating in 2011, and going on to play at Wesleyan University. Vassar has coached at Doherty High School as well as at St. Paul Diocesan Junior-Senior High School in Worcester before becoming an assistant on the St. John's staff last year.
"Honestly it's amazing, this is a dream come true," said Vassar, "First off to be able to come back home, I've been out in Boston for 3 years building community and it's been wonderful. But to come back home and have an impact at my alma mater in the community that I love and cherish, there's no greater feeling.
"I know what they've been through, what they're going through as students. I know what it looks like outside of the building looking in. And I know what it's like to walk through these halllways every day. There are challenges at every route, whether that's academically, physically, mentally, spiritually. And I think I'm primed and ready to help our kids develop as young men that we want them to be."
Vassar will also serve as the school's first director of community outreach and partnerships.