Frank Ray is the new head football coach at St. Pius X, succeeding Dan Oliver, who is stepping down after four seasons as head coach and also will relinquish the Lancer baseball head coaching duties at season’s end.
Ray, 43, had been an assistant coach at Hillsboro the last eight years. The Hawks were 10-2 and won the Class 4 District 1 championship in 2022. Ray coached the defense that pitched two shutouts and held two other opponents to a touchdown.
“I’ve loved my time at Hillsboro and was in a good situation,” Ray said. “I wasn’t in a hurry to leave.
“Sure, I’ve always thought I’d end up (a head coach). I had some opportunities in the last year but none seemed right. I wasn’t in a situation at Hillsboro where I had to leave. I could have stayed there for 10 more years and been happy. But the more I looked into the job, this looked like the perfect spot for me.”
Oliver replaced Jerry Woods as head coach of the St. Pius football and baseball teams and led the Lancers to a record of 27-16 on the gridiron. Three of the four years Oliver was coach, St. Pius finished with a record of 8-3. He continues to pilot the Lancer baseball team that’s playing this week as the No. 1 seed in the Class 3 District 4 tournament. Oliver guided St. Pius to a district championship last year.
Before coming to St. Pius, Oliver retired from the Affton School District, where he was head football coach for 21 years and activities director for 13. He taught wellness at St. Pius on a part-time basis, but the position was made full-time for the next school year, St. Pius President Jim Lehn said.
“My schedule didn’t fit with their schedule,” Oliver said. “When I got here, I asked for part-time only. I have to help with my parents’ health issues. It’s just a good time for me to go. I’ve already retired once, so I can help them and do some other things. I’ll miss the kids and competition.
“My parents took care of me, so now it’s time to take care of them.”
Oliver said he’s content with the success the Lancer baseball and football teams had under his direction. He said one of his favorite moments in football was the 24-20 win over I-55 Conference rival Jefferson in 2021 when Dabrein Moss, a senior this year, caught a deep last-second touchdown pass from Collin Smith.
“The way the kids responded to a whole new system my first year was great, changing the football team from a spread team to a power running team,” Oliver said. “We probably won here at a higher rate than in the past.
“We put them in a good spot. I was counting on winning eight or nine games next year.”
In another move, St. Pius activities director Tilden Watson will no longer serve as football defensive coordinator after many years in that role under both Woods and Oliver. Watson had been on the coaching staff since 2006, but said a heart issue last year led to the decision to give up those duties. Ed Moreno, Jordan Underwood and Marcus Brown were retained as assistant coaches, and the new full-time wellness teacher, Dave Pierce, joins the staff after coming over from Hillsboro as well.
“We have a very similar defensive setup,” Watson said of Ray. “When it comes to passion, when I hear him, I hear me. It’s going to be his baby.
“For 18 years I put my blood, sweat and tears into the (football) team. I told our seniors last fall, ‘I’m one of you this year.’ I told them they weren’t even babies when I started coaching here.
“I feel good handing the reins off to someone to take us to another level. With Dan, we moved in the right direction.”
St. Pius last won a district football title in 1999.
“So a district championship is that next step,” Watson said.
Ray has owned a landscaping business in Jefferson County for 12 years. He and his wife, Krista, have two sons, Griffin and Harrison. Griffin, who graduates from Hillsboro High this month, was a starter on defense in football and won state medals in wrestling, helping the Hawks achieve their first-ever state championship in the sport this past winter. He’s headed to the University of Nebraska on an athletic scholarship.
Youth programs in Hillsboro have served the high school’s football and wrestling programs well, as the results of this past school year showed.
“I’ve seen that work,” said Ray, who helped launch the youth football program that produced standout athletes like his son, Austin Romaine and Jaxin Patterson, all earning collegiate scholarships. “Not just for the school, but for the youth in the area. When you give them an opportunity to play football, it’s great because it teaches a lot of lessons.
“Teaching the game comes easy to me. I’m a mindset and attitude guy and I’m ready to get our team mentally ready to compete. It’s not necessarily a program that’s in a bad place. It’s had some success in recent years and they were looking for somebody to get them to the next level. For me the private school route was going to fit as head coach because I’m not an educator and that makes it difficult in public schools.”
Watson said he’s in the process of hiring a new baseball coach. St. Pius played Grandview on Monday in the district semifinals, after the Leader deadline. (I’ll update Tuesday morning).