Jim Eustice takes over as Mendota football coach

Jim Eustice has stepped down as St. Bede’s football coach but he’s not stepping away from coaching football.

After 10 seasons leading the Bruins, Eustice is trading in the green and white of St. Bede for the purple and gold of Mendota.

Eustice was hired as Mendota’s football coach at the school’s board meeting Tuesday.

“It just seems like a perfect fit for both parties,” Eustice said. “I’m sad to be leaving St. Bede. I think we really built a consistent and great program. It’s going to be sad to leave that, but on the other hand, I’m very excited to get up there and start developing a new staff and meeting the kids at Mendota. It’s a brand new chapter for me, and hopefully it will be my last chapter.

“I’m very excited for the new opportunity, and I’m very grateful and blessed to have had the opportunities I’ve had in the past. I’ve always coached and taught my kids to keep your doors open and never slam them shut unless you have to. When things happened like they did, I had an open mind, and here we are.”

The door opened for Eustice to take the Mendota job after he analyzed his future financial situation and decided it would be best to move to a public school.

Eustice went 46-47 in 10 seasons at St. Bede, leading the Bruins to four playoff berths (2016, 2021-23), two second-round playoff appearances (2016, 2021) and a 5-1 record during the spring 2021 season.

The Mendota job will be Eustice’s third leading a program in the area as he was the head coach at Marquette, his alma mater, from 2005-09, going 13-32.

“Jim is a great candidate with what he brings to the table in terms of coaching experience and success,” said Mendota athletic director Brock Zinke, who also has been on the Mendota football coaching staff. “I think he’s the best candidate you could ask for with the situation. I think it was pretty much a no-brainer when we found out he was interested.”

Eustice takes over a Mendota program that has struggled for more than a decade.

The Trojans are 25-88 over the past 13 seasons – including 11-47 the past seven seasons under Keegan Hill, who resigned in November – with eight seasons of one win or fewer and 11 seasons of three wins or fewer. Mendota made the playoffs twice during that span in 2014 and 2021 with 2014 being the program’s lone winning season at 6-4.

“The longer you coach, you keep consistently learning,” Zinke said. “He’s been through a lot of different experiences as a head coach and an assistant, so he’s seen and done a lot of things and he has systems that he knows work for him. We’re optimistic that what he brings to the table is going to help turn the program in a positive direction and ideally stack up some more victories.”

Eustice will look to return the Trojans to their past tradition as a playoff regular under John McKenzie from 2002-12.

During that span, Mendota was 63-43 with seven playoff appearances that all resulted in advancement to the second round or deeper, including quarterfinal appearances in 2009 and 2010.

“Mendota is one of the bigger schools in the TRAC [Three Rivers Conference] and their facilities are phenomenal,” Eustice said. “There are more kids in the school than I’m used to. They’ve got a great soccer program going right now. The basketball team is having a great winter. I’ve always had a lot of respect for Mendota from when I played against them when I was at Marquette and all those years coaching.

“I need to get in there and assess the why of what’s happened. I’ve got ideas. I think I know what to do. It’s just a matter of finding the right people to come along with me and help me coach it. I’m going to have to develop some coaches along the way. Then it’s a matter of getting kids to buy into it and have discipline and structure to what we’re doing day in and day out. I think the results will eventually come, and hopefully sooner than later.”

Eustice brings familiarity with the Three Rivers Conference Mississippi Division, although some schools have different coaches than the last time he coached in the league in 2022.

Eustice, whose Bruins were 2-7 last fall, was 26-20 in TRC Mississippi when St. Bede was in the conference.

“I think that definitely helps,” Zinke said. “He has familiarity with opponents. He has experience game planning against opponents. I think anytime there’s comfortability there with opponents, it makes an easier transition.”