After 26 seasons as head coach of Everett football, John DiBiaso announced to his team Wednesday that he is stepping down, an announcement that followed the team’s Super Bowl victory over Xaverian this past weekend.
The win — a 35-10 drubbing Saturday night at Gillette Stadium — marked DiBiaso’s 12th Division 1 title with the Crimson. Following the game, he hinted that his time at the helm was nearing a close.
“I’m on the 18th hole going into the clubhouse,” DiBiaso told reporters after the game. “So this means a lot.”
This season had a storybook ending in more than one way. Everett’s emphatic victory over St. John’s Prep in the first round of the D1 North playoffs in late October marked DiBiaso’s 300th victory as a head coach in Massachusetts, making him just the fourth to reach that milestone. Completing his collection of a dozen Super Bowl rings was icing on the cake.
“I’ve been here 39 years, the better part of my life,” he said. “It is time for me to retire. I do it with mixed feelings. In 39 years, we haven’t won 39 championships. But I hope every player that I have coached has thought of me as a good guy.”
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DiBiaso, 61, took over the Everett program in 1992 following a 2-9 campaign. The change in culture was evident immediately, with Everett going 7-3 in ’92 and ’93 and improving each year up to 1997, when it went 11-0 and took home the D1 hardware.
Before Everett, DiBiaso coached at St. Patrick’s High School in Newton and at Weston High School. His career record is 304-75-1.
DiBiaso will remain Everett’s athletic director and head coach of the boys’ basketball team through the end of the school year; his retirement will become official June 30.
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“John and I had the great opportunity to coach against each other for the better part of 25 years,” said former Xaverian coach Charlie Stevenson. “His teams were always good and well-prepared. The competitions we had against each other were some of the best football games in Massachusetts during that time period.
“For both of us, it always felt as if we were playing against the best team. We had to have our team ready mentally and physically. You had to play your very best to beat Everett — everybody felt that way.”
Everett junior quarterback Jake Willcox, who threw 27 touchdown passes this season, said, “He’s a man who helped everyone out always, and of course is the greatest high school football coach ever. It’s going to be tough without him but we’’ll have to persevere and carry on the legacy he had here.”
John DiBiaso’s record at Everett
Year Record Result
2017 11-0 Won D1 Super Bowl
2016 10-2 State champions
2015 5-5 Lost D1 North final
2014 9-2 Lost D1 Super Bowl
2013 8-2 Lost D1 North final
2012 11-1 Won Super Bowl
2011 13-0 Won Super Bowl
2010 12-0 Won Super Bowl
2009 8-3 Lost Super Bowl
2008 9-2 Lost playoffs
2007 13-0 Won Super Bowl
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2006 12-0 Won Super Bowl
2005 10-1 Lost playoffs
2004 10-1 Lost Super Bowl
2003 11-0 Won Super Bowl
2002 12-0 Won Super Bowl
2001 11-1 Won Super Bowl
2000 8-1 GBL co-champ
1999 9-1 Won Super Bowl
1998 9-1 Lost Super Bowl
1997 11-0 Won Super Bowl
1996 10-1 Lost Super Bowl
1995 8-1 GBL co-champ
1994 8-2 2nd place GBL
1993 7-3 3rd place GBL
1992 7-3 3rd place GBL
Total 252-33 (.884) Career record: 304-75-1 (.801)
Owen Pence can be reached at owen.pence@globe.com; Globe correspondent Dan Shulman contributed to this report.