Through QBs Coach DiBiaso, Catholic Memorial and Boston College Football Connection Grows Stronger

Catholic Memorial (West Roxbury, Mass.) products Jaedn Skeete and Max Tucker are expected to have massive roles for the BC Eagles' football program this year.

Former Catholic Memorial standout defensive back Max Tucker signs autographs for participants at Hyde Park skills camp. / Boston College football (@BCFootball) via X.

The connection between Catholic Memorial High School in West Roxbury, Mass., and the Boston College Eagles’ football program is obvious by now.

The head coach of the Knights, John DiBiaso Sr., who is second all-time in career wins in MIAA (Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association) football history, is the father of current BC quarterbacks coach Jonathan DiBiaso.

The younger DiBiaso was appointed to the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach by BC head coach Bill O’Brien after spending the 2023 season as an offensive analyst who worked closely with the quarterbacks, primarily 2,000-yard passer and 1,000-yard rusher Thomas Castellanos.

Back in August of 2024, Bill O’Brien explained his reasoning for promoting DiBiaso, citing his intelligence despite the fact that he is only five years removed since he was a graduate assistant for the program.

“He’s one of the better younger coaches I’ve been around,” O’Brien said. “He does a really good job. He’s smart, he’s a good teacher, he knows the game. He played the game at that position. He studies hard. He works hard. He’s a really good recruiter. I think it’s really good that we have him here at BC.”

Before heading to Dartmouth, and later Tufts, to play football at the collegiate level, “Dibs,” as he is known by BC’s players and staff, was a star quarterback at Everett High School who set state career records with 103 passing touchdowns and 7,052 passing yards. 

DiBiaso was named ESPN Massachusetts Mr. Football and Gatorade Massachusetts Player of the Year in 2011-12 before prepping at Phillips Exeter Academy.

One of DiBiaso’s coaching philosophies ever since he arrived on the Heights is “keeping the best in Mass. stay in Mass.,” and the recruiting staff have done a convincing job of this ever since his hiring before the 2023 season, when Jeff Hafley coached the Eagles.

Because of this philosophy, and due to the fact that his own father runs arguably the best public high school football program in the state, Catholic Memorial, referred to as “CM,” has become a factory for BC football recruits as of late.

On the Eagles’ 2025 roster, five players are products of CM—linebacker Owen McGowan, wide receiver Datrell Jones, wide receiver Jaedn Skeete, defensive back Max Tucker, and running back Mekhi Dodd. Besides McGowan, the remaining four players who were recruited to BC from CM arrived by the time that DiBiaso was named an offensive analyst, and later the quarterbacks coach.

The Eagles’ 2026 recruiting class includes two additional CM products, 6-foot-7 offensive tackle Marcelino Antunes Jr. and 6-foot-4 defensive lineman Mac Fitzgerald—the son of BC strength and conditioning coach Craig Fitzgerald—and the class of 2028 includes current CM sophomore athlete Ramar Thomas, rated a 89 on 247Sports.

.@CathMemKnights 🏈coach John DiBiaso on '26 BC football commits @MacFitzgerald07 / @MarcAntunes74:

"Marc is the foundation of the O line. We've got to control the line, and he's the leader of that group. Mac Fitzgerald is the leader of the defensive line. We're strong on both." pic.twitter.com/E1VNASezyK

— Graham Dietz (@graham_dietz) August 23, 2025

This trend is not just about the fact that CM players are filtering into the BC football ranks more than any other high school football program in the country. It is also representative of one of the core principles of O’Brien’s recruiting style, which prioritizes keeping the best local talent within the state, and about who the players are themselves. 

Skeete, for instance, has increasingly developed in his time on the Heights and is set to become a starter this season after displaying pure dominance during 2025 fall training camp. So has Tucker, who racked up close to if not the most PBUs (pass break-ups) during fall camp of any player in the Eagles’ secondary.

The two started out as freshman with a high competitive motor and have morphed into key pieces on the defense and offense, respectively, who are capable of putting Massachusetts high school football on the map in 2025 and beyond. 

Skeete and Tucker are the epitome of why the CM-BC connection was established in the first place, where that connection is trending, and have set an example for incoming recruits such as Fitzgerald and Antunes about how to represent CM at the collegiate level—as leaders, caretakers of the BC football youth, and bastions for football in the state which has not been known to produce pro-level talent like states in the south, Texas, and California do.

DiBiaso Sr. has already taken note of this with Antunes and Fitzgerald before they have even started their final high school season.

"[Marcelino] is the foundation of the [offensive] line,” DiBiaso Sr. said. “We've got to control the line, and he's the leader of that group. Mac Fitzgerald is the leader of the defensive line. We're strong on both."

Future @BCFootball left tackle in the making?@MarcAntunes74 stands at 6-foot-7, 290 lbs. and towers over his teammates and opponents.

Watch him protect QB Kise Flannery (@HarvardFootball commit) on the blind side ⬇️. pic.twitter.com/jgTMq52Dpj

— Graham Dietz (@graham_dietz) August 23, 2025

Dodd is unquestionably the most talented running back DiBiaso Sr. has ever coached at CM, but he said that ‘28 BC recruit Thomas is showing flashes of that sort of potential, although he still has a long way to go.

“It’s impossible to replace a Mekhi,” DiBiaso Sr. said. “Ramar, who you saw just a little, Ramar is going to be very good and he gives us that explosion that Mekhi gave us. [He’s] the closest thing [to Mekhi] that we have.”

A major selling point for committing to BC for Antunes was the proximity of his hometown, Dorchester, to Chestnut Hill, which his mother agreed with as well.

“It just felt right to me,” Antunes said. “They were the first school to ever reach out to me, and in my heart, it just felt like they have a great coaching staff. I definitely think they will win a lot. Probably this year as well.”

Antunes is an only child, which makes it even more important for him to be close to his parents even though he had an offer from Atlantic Coast Conference rival Syracuse, which went 10-3 in 2024—fourth in the ACC—and likely other programs if he had kept his recruitment open during his senior year.

One of the best features of BC’s coaching staff, especially O’Brien, for BC football recruits, according to Antunes, is how much the staff stays in touch with its recruits in a personal manner, even during the regular season when the current team is the focus.

“With coach [Matt] Applebaum, our relationship just keeps getting closer and closer,” Antunes said. “He’s just always helping me out a lot, just like with my technique and stuff like that. When I went to campus, he coached me up, and that meant a lot.”