MN high school football state tournament

Holy Family Catholic was early into its third decade as a high school in Carver County and had found itself no longer competitive in the rugged art of American football.

Tanner Davis, now a senior for the Fire, said: “Holy Family hadn’t won a game for two years … or maybe it was three. And football’s a hard sport to get kids to play when you’re losing.”

Holy Family was looking for a coach in the winter of 2022-23, and Dan O’Brien had several stops on his résumé, the most recent being a 49-5 record in five seasons coaching St. Thomas Academy.

O’Brien was interested in moving to Holy Family, but only if he could get a pair of friends and “retired” prep coaching legends, Dave Nelson and Jeff Ferguson, to join him in this new adventure in the southwest suburbs.

They went for it, and by February 2023, O’Brien was on the job.

“Dan O’Brien was in the hallways every day, trying to convince guys to give football a try,” Davis said.

For more on O'Brien and the Fire, click here to read this story on startribune.com.