St. Paul's announced that 1999 graduate Trey Whitty will replace longtime lacrosse coach Rick Brocato after this coming season.

Whitty, a three-year three-sport standout at St. Paul's who played four years of lacrosse at Virginia, is set to become the storied program's sixth head coach in the past 60 years. He is now an assistant coach under Andy Hilgartner at McDonogh, which won the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A?Conference championship last season.

Named the MIAA's top assistant coach as the Eagles' defensive coordinator last season, he will continue in that position this spring.

Brocato, who has a 225-104 career record in 16 seasons, announced in September that he would step down after the 2017 season. He is seven wins short of St. Paul's legendary coach George Mitchell's 232 victories, the most in program history.

In addition to coaching, Whitty will teach history and serve as a college counselor at St. Paul's next school year.

Whitty said his immediate focus is helping the Eagles defend their MIAA A championship this spring; he will turn his attention to his new position at St.?Paul's in the summer.

“It's still a little surreal and I'm still a little speechless when I think about it,” he said. “In our profession — teaching and coaching at the high school level — St. Paul's is one of the premier programs and one of the great jobs in the country, and being an alum makes it extra special.

“I'm filling big shoes with Rick Brocato, who will shortly become the program's all-time winningest coach. There's just a long tradition of great players and coaches at St. Paul's, so when this opportunity came about and things started to unfold, it's something that I'm honored, and again a little speechless, but I'm ready to take on the challenge and do the best I can for St.?Paul's.”

St. Paul's headmaster David C. Faus said in a statement: “We are thrilled to welcome Trey back to St. Paul's. Like his predecessors, he is a true teacher-coach and will educate our students not only on the playing field, but also in the classrooms.”

At St. Paul's, Whitty was a captain in lacrosse, basketball and football. Last year, he was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame.

At Virginia, he emerged as one of the country's top long-stick midfielders and was a co-captain on the team's 2003 national championship team in his senior year.

After graduating from Virginia, Whitty spent two years as a teacher and assistant under Brocato at St. Paul's. He also served as athletic director at St.?Mary's and is in his second stint at McDonogh, spending the past three years as an assistant lacrosse coach and teacher.

As head coach, he plans to stress fundamentals, identify what his players do best and then play to the team's strengths.

“I have been molded by the coaches I've had — Rick Brocato, [former St.?Paul's coach] Mitch Whiteley, [former Virginia coach] Dom Starsia and then working with Andy,” Whitty said.

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