MADISON – St. Joseph School named former Mississippi State quarterback John Bond as the school’s new head football coach and Bruin basketball coach Michael Howell as athletic director during a news conference on Friday, June 1.

Howell, who will continue to coach Bruin basketball, will manage and oversee all 21 St. Joe sports. Bond will take over a football program that went 7-4 in the regular season last year before falling to Perry Central in a first-round playoff game.
“Being a head coach made the difference,” Bond said. “This place just felt right. I’ve got some friends with their kids here. I’ve always heard great things about the school. And I said I wanted to be a part of that.”
St. Joe fields 21 boys and girls sports. Boys sports include baseball, basketball, football, soccer, swimming, bowling, track and cross country; girls sports include softball, basketball, soccer, cheerleading, swimming, bowling, track and cross country,
Howell, 32, who is entering his second year as head basketball coach, said he hopes to improve all sports on campus. Howell said that Bruin coaches have high expectations for their sports, “but they need some resources to meet those expectations.”
Howell said he plans to do what he can as athletic director “to get them those resources – fundraising, helping them with scheduling, whatever I need to do to help them get up to the level they want to get to and just trying to see each student athlete be successful.”
Before joining the St. Joseph Catholic School staff in 2017, Howell worked as an assistant basketball coach at Brandon High School. In his first year as head basketball coach, Howell took the Bruins to an Elite 8 berth in the state high school playoffs.
Bond, 57, played quarterback at Mississippi State University from 1980-1983. Bond’s college career included a 6-3 win over Alabama in 1980, one of the greatest wins in school history. He led Mississippi State to appearances in the Sun Bowl in El Paso in 1980 and the Hall of Fame Classic in Birmingham in 1981.
In college, Bond ran the wishbone offense; he said he doesn’t plan to run the wishbone at St. Joe.
“We are going to have to have an athletic quarterback; he’s got to be a threat,” Bond said. “It’ll be some type of option game. We’ve got some pretty good athletes. From what I saw . . . we’ve got some talent and we’ve got some kids who want to play.”
Principal Dena Kinsey said Howell’s promotion and Bond’s hire highlight St. Joseph’s support for a strong athletic program. She said a good athletic program combined with an outstanding college prep curriculum gives St. Joe students a well-rounded education.
“I’m so excited about the 2018-19 school year,” Kinsey said. “We have some fabulous leadership in place who will bring the St. Joe family together and move us forward.”