Given that the entire city knew the identity of St. Thomas’ new baseball and football coaches before they were officially announced, it seemed appropriate that one student began furiously clapping Tuesday just before the name “Craig Biggio” rolled off the tongue of St. Thomas athletic director Mike Netzel.

“And now for the worst-kept secret in the city,” Netzel laughed to a school assembly packed with media.

Biggio, the former Astros second baseman, assumed the head coaching position after one season as an assistant – a season in which the Eagles won their second consecutive TAPPS state championship and appeared in the title game for the fifth straight year.

“This was never a goal or ambition. I just love working with the kids and talking about baseball,” said Biggio, whose son Conor plays baseball and football at St. Thomas. “Then when there was a vacancy (Ken Schulte is leaving to help coach football at Brazosport), I had to think about it. The reason I’m doing it in the first place is for the kids. They’re a great bunch and I’m happy to be around them. …

“I’m here every day anyway. Once Ken stepped away, I thought about it.”

Former Rice quarterback Donald Hollas was named head football coach at the assembly, which also honored the school’s Western Football Rugby Union championship rugby team among others.

St. Thomas’ baseball team has won 20 state championships since 1950, including eight straight from 1989-96.

Reports of the hirings leaked to several area media outlets Monday morning.

“I could stand up here for a while and list all of (Biggio’s) individual achievements,” Netzel said. “I think of loyalty – 20 years in one city with one organization. That’s unheard of in this day and age.”

Biggio got 3,060 hits with the Astros, 20th all-time in Major League Baseball. He was a seven-time All-Star, is the franchise’s all-time leader in games played, at-bats, runs, walks, doubles and total bases and ranks second in home runs, stolen bases and RBIs.

Biggio will continue to serve as a special assistant to Astros general manager Ed Wade. That’s a paid position, as is the St. Thomas job with a small stipend, but Biggio said Tuesday “I will not take one dollar from my stipend or the school. It all will go back to my coaches.”

Hollas, 40, a Lamar Consolidated graduate, played quarterback at Rice from 1987-90. He finished as the fifth-leading passer in school history (4,039 yards), fifth in completions (343) and sixth in attempts (606). Drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1991, he was in that organization for five years and played two with the Oakland Raiders before retiring in 1998.

Hollas since has coached the Katy Ruff Riders of the Intense Football League and spent a year assisting at Lamar Consolidated.

“During my interview we walked around and talked about football philosophies and … at the very end of the interview, I was asked about my philosophy,” Hollas said. “I said one way to do it is having a mass of humanity, three yards and a cloud of dust. But I’m a guy who likes to see the air full of balls on a Friday night.

“We’re gonna do something special here. This is going to be an exciting time and we’re going to continue a rich tradition.”

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