Bishop Kelly football goes from one championship-winning coach to another with splash hire - Chris Culig

Bishop Kelly High School figured to be up to something.

There hadn’t been so much as a whisper about who possibly was going to replace legendary coach Tim Brennan at the Boise Catholic private school. Brennan announced his retirement after 27 seasons more than two months ago.

It ended up being more than worth the wait.

The Knights were able to pry away Chris Culig from Class 5A powerhouse Rocky Mountain with the major bombshell announcement Wednesday.

Culig, 57, had spent the past six seasons turning the Grizzlies into a mini dynasty. He went 57-8 (.877), won three 5A Southern Idaho Conference titles and won two state titles with perfect seasons (2018, 2020).

"It’s the only job I would have left Rocky for," Culig said. "It’s unique enough and different enough and offers me and other student-athletes something just completely different than what a public school can do."

But none of it was planned. He admitted to not being able to bring himself to leave the place that had given him his first-head coaching opportunity in 2017. Culig even backed out of the job as recently as two weeks ago.

However, his Catholic faith and the ability to grow it, brought him back. The two sides officially reached an agreement Tuesday.

"It’s funny, everybody says, ‘Why?’ They’re just kind of blown away. It’s more than just a 5A-4A thing," Culig said. "This wasn’t a football decision for me. I’ve already had a fair amount of success at Rocky. I can be better in my faith. Everybody needs some degree of spiritualism and faith."

Culig will fill the big shoes of Brennan, who ended his prolific career with a 232-61 (.792) record, 13 league titles and six state championships. While Culig is no stranger accolades himself, he admitted to being a little nervous about being his replacement.

"There’s an old adage saying you never want to follow a legend," Culig said with a laugh. "But I want to maintain those 60 years of tradition and success. So now it’s like, ‘How do we move it to the next phase, move it to the next growth and make BK even better?’"

Culig will have the benefit of having Brennan in the building next season. He’s staying on with the school as the dean of students for one more year.

"I care a lot about our program and Bishop Kelly, so I’ll do whatever I can to help him in any way possible," Brennan said. "Obviously, I won’t be there on the practice field or on the sidelines, but any questions he has, I'll be there to answer and help him out."

Culig looks to be a great fit on paper. Bishop Kelly has always been known for two things: running the ball and defense, the later being his specialty. He had a top-ranked defense in each of his nine years total at Rocky Mountain, three of which were as an assistant. Culig was the defensive coordinator for the Grizzlies’ first-ever state championship in 2015.

It was one of the many cherished memories he reminisced about upon addressing them for the final time Wednesday morning before the news broke.

 "I was a mess," Culig said. "It’s been 24 hours of a lot of emotions both sad and obviously excited for the new challenge. I love my players, coaches and parents at Rocky. And giving that up was really a tough decision."

Culig also won a state title as an assistant with Eagle in 2009. His other stops include Timberline, Idaho State and Boise State.