St. Bede to have ‘spinoff’ of offense with Jack Brady taking over as head coach

For the last five seasons, Jack Brady served as St. Bede’s offensive coordinator.

But that doesn’t mean that the Bruins’ offensive scheme will be exactly the same as he takes over as his alma mater’s head coach this fall.

“We’re going to be a little bit different than we were last year,” Brady said. “We’re still going to have a lot of the same formations and the same trends that we had in the past and try to attack the same places, but it’s going to be just a little bit of a spinoff with me taking over.”

Brady said he didn’t want to reveal exactly what the Bruins will be running offensively, but said St. Bede will continue to be a balanced attack.

“That will change week by week depending on who we’re playing and how they attack you defensively,” Brady said. “But we have to be able to do both, so that’s the goal. We’re going to get the team ready for a run or pass game and from there we’ll see what happens.”

Brady, who will call the offensive plays, said it will be beneficial to have senior Geno Ferrari returning at quarterback and junior Landon Marquez back for his third year as a varsity running back along with several other players who saw action last season.

“Our terminology has not changed from last year, so the same words mean the same things to the kids,” Brady said. “Having that varsity core we have in our receivers, running backs and quarterback helps a lot because they’re helping the other kids as we go.”

While St. Bede does have some veterans back on offense, the Bruins have multiple holes to fill along the offensive line.

“It’s just as simple as rep it out,” Brady said about getting replacements ready up front. “We’ll spend extra time with the upcoming linemen to make sure they got it. The game starts there. If we don’t check that box, we’re in a bad place.”

Defensively, the Bruins will look similar with defensive coordinator Sam Halm back for his second year calling the defense.

The Bruins will have an opportunity to put their offensive changes to the test Monday when they head to La Salle-Peru for a scrimmage.

“We’re playing a bigger school, so it’s just getting in good work, getting live reps and getting ready for the season,” Ferrari said.

Along with changing the offense, Brady has brought a new mentality to the Bruins, who went 2-7 last season.

“He’s brought in a new work ethic for us,” St. Bede senior Carson Riva said. “It’s a different mentality all around. Everything’s changing for the better. We’re on the upward (swing) right now.

“The work ethic in the summer (is better). The weight room numbers have been up. We’re getting stronger. The intensity in practice (is higher) with more hitting getting us ready for the season, so we’re ready to go as soon as Week 1 hits.”

Brady said the Bruins had good numbers in the weight room in June.

“We had a real good June lifting,” Brady said. “We were getting about 40 kids a day between the morning and night sessions, which I think is really going to help us this season, propel us to be a tougher, more physical football team.

“I can’t ask for anything more out of the kids. They have bought in to what we’re trying to teach them.”

The Bruins will continue to have workouts Monday-Thursday through July and will scrimmage Mendota, which is led by former St. Bede coach Jim Eustice, on July 31.

“He’s bringing some change, but we’re adapting to it, pushing ourselves and just believing in what he’s doing,” senior AJ Hermes said about Brady. “We just have to continue to be more physical. We have to keep pushing ourselves, keep staying together and improve our camaraderie.”