In a homecoming and a splash hire, former Cal football star Jahvid Best will become the next head football coach at St. Mary’s High School of Berkeley, the school announced Monday.
Best, who starred at Salesian Prep and later at Cal and in the NFL, replaces Connor Banks, who led the Panthers to a 14-21 record in four seasons. Banks left to take an administrative job at another school, St. Mary’s athletic director Casey Filson said.
“I think the opportunity to run his own program is what attracted him to the position,” Filson said. “Jahvid’s made it really clear that his first goal is to get this program up and running.”
The head job at St. Mary’s will be Best’s first opportunity to lead a program, but he has helped on the staffs at his two former schools. After retiring from the NFL, Best returned to Cal as a student-assistant; he spent the past three years before this past season coaching running backs and defense at Salesian.
“I’ll be drawing from all my coaching experience and all my playing experience,” Best said. “I want to pass down the knowledge I have. I feel what made me great as an athlete was my work ethic. … What I want to do with my program is teach the kids how to put the work in and how to be dedicated to the work. I think I’ll be able to pass that on through the whole program, from top to bottom. … I really just want to build my program from the ground up. I’m not too focused on where my coaching career will do. It’s not even about me; it’s just about getting these kids to achieve their goals and their dreams.”
It took a little luck to connect Best and St. Mary’s.
Best’s wife, Rachael Armstrong, was assisting with the St. Mary’s girls soccer team, Filson said, when she offered up the idea of of her husband possibly joining the football staff.
“I was just sitting on the sidelines one day and I didn’t really recognize him,” Filson said. “I said ‘Hey, how you doing?’ and he introduced himself. A couple days later, his wife came up and said, ‘If there’s ever a head coaching position, he’d be interested.”
Best said his wife knew the position was open before he did.
“I guess you could say she’s my agent now,” he joked. “They called, and I jumped on it because it’s exactly what I was looking for.”
Considered a top-100 recruit out of high school, Best committed to Cal, where he went on to earn two first-team All-Pac-10 selections and became a first-round NFL draft pick.
Concussions, however, cut Best’s NFL career short — three seasons with the Detroit Lions — before he returned to Berkeley to pursue a coaching career.
Best, who was also a track star, qualified and competed for St. Lucia in the 100-meter dash at the 2016 Summer Olympics, two years after returning to Berkeley.
In the spring, Best will also help coach the sprinters on St. Mary’s track team.
