Bishop Eustace Prep's football program will turn to a former Golden Domer in an effort to regain his fortune in the right direction.

Rick Purcell, a member of the University of Notre Dame National Championship team in 1988, was hired as the Crusaders' head coach, the Pennsauken-based school announced on Tuesday.

Archbishop Eustace, chairman of the board, the Reverend Peter T. Sticco, made the announcement in a letter to the school community.

Sticco wrote that "it was a priority to find a candidate committed not only to helping our football program grow, but also to ensuring that our student-athletes reach their maximum potential in the context of our Pallottine tradition. We are confident that our students will be in good hands under the guidance of Coach Purcell. "

According to the letter, Purcell was a wide catcher and a defensive back for the Irish from 1987 to 1989 and comes to Bishop Eustace with more than a decade of coaching experience.

Purcell will also be the director of development for the school. He obtained his Bachelor of Science from Notre Dame and his Doctor of Laws from the Faculty of Law of the University of Cincinnati.

According to his Facebook page, Purcell is originally from Cincinnati and will be moving to the Queen City area.

Purcell replaces Alton Johnson, who had a 11-19 record in his three seasons. The Crusaders went 1-9 last fall, which included a forfeit loss to Northern Burlington due to too much injury to their players.

Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post and the Daily Journal, covering sports in South Jersey for over 30 years. If you have a sports story to tell, contact them at (856) 486-2420 or by email [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a Courier-Post subscription.