When Keith Rawlings announced his resignation as head football coach at John Carroll earlier this year to accept the position of defensive coordinator at St. Paul’s, where his sons attend school and play football, the Patriots moved quickly to appoint JC offensive coordinator Rich Stichel as the new head coach of the Patriots.
A former standout at McDaniel College, Stichel began his high school coaching career as the head coach at Sparrows Point High School and he came to John Carroll two years ago with Rawlings, helping the Patriots build one of the most prolific offenses in the MIAA B Conference.
Rawlings was rumored to be a candidate for the St. Paul’s head coaching job following the departure of Dave Dolch, at the end of the 2008 season, but he stayed in Bel Air and guided the Patriots to within one win of an appearance in the B Conference title game.
However, he had an understanding with John Carroll athletic director Larry Dukes that his first priority was to be involved with the high school football careers of his sons, who attend St. Paul’s and have now advanced into the high school program.
Rawlings will also coach the Crusader quarterbacks and linebackers under St. Paul’s head coach Paul Bernstorf.
Bernstorf also added another former B Conference head coach to his staff when Cardinal Gibbons head coach Scott Ripley accepted the position of assistant athletic director at St. Paul’s.
Ripley returned to Gibbons two years ago for his second tour of duty at his alma mater and turned a struggling program into a contender. Unfortunately, he was left without a program when Gibbons was shut down at the end of last school year.
In between his stints at Gibbons, Ripley served as a top defensive assistant at both Loyola Blakefield and Gilman. At St. Paul’s, he will work with junior varsity program, calling defenses and coaching the offensive line and linebackers.
