A week after Pat Swanson was born, he was on a football field with his dad Tim, a longtime assistant at Marian Catholic, for summer workouts.
Then when he was a little older and NCAA football video games were a big thing, Swanson would make himself a head coach.
Now, the football lifer is taking the next step as St. Laurence’s head coach.
The school announced on Jan. 31 the hiring of Swanson, who has been Mount Carmel’s defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator.
“I am thrilled to welcome Coach Swanson to the St. Laurence family,” athletic director Tim Chandler said in a press release. “Throughout the process, Coach Swanson met with different committees comprised of current players, St. Laurence coaches, alumni football players, staff members and administration. Every step of the way, he exhibited his incredibly high ceiling as the leader of our football program and blew our committees away with his maturity, drive and plans to take our program to the next level. He knows what it takes to build a champion, and we look forward to him doing that at St. Laurence.”
Swanson replaces Adam Nissen, who was let go after a six-year run that produced a 35-28 record, three IHSA playoff berths, a Class 4A runner-up finish in 2024, a quarterfinal berth last season and one Prep Bowl title.
“From kind of an early age, I had a dream of being a head coach in high school or college,” said Swanson, who also has college coaching experience at Wisconsin-Platteville, North Dakota and Northern Illinois.
Why St. Laurence?
“There’s a lot of things that attracted me to the opening,” Swanson said. “No. 1, they’ve had a history of success. They’ve become extremely competitive and a tough out.
“A lot of the foundational stuff is laid there.”
He also clicked with school administrators during the interview process, as well as other athletic personnel. That includes Frank Lenti, an 11-time state champion coach at Mount Carmel who is now a special advisor to the Vikings football program.
Swanson, who will also move to St. Laurence as a teacher next school year, plans to start attending the Vikings’ offseason workouts to start getting to know the players.
“I’m going to be here a long time,” he said. “I want them to be comfortable with the relationship with me.”
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