Cretin-Derham Hall made a surprising announcement Wednesday afternoon, tabbing Lakeville South football coach Ben Burk for the same position at the St. Paul school.

Burk led Lakeville South to a state title in 2021 after recording an undefeated season in the COVID-shortened campaign in the fall of 2020.

Under his direction, the Cougars became annual championship contenders in Class 6A.

But Burk said he always has looked for ways to “grow and explore different parts of education,” and feels the opportunity at Cretin-Derham Hall is “a way for me to stretch my ways professionally, and I really wanted the opportunity to do that and be a football coach.”

Burk currently teaches English at Lakeville South. He believes the Cougars are still set up for success, and noted that is difficult to leave.

“But I’m excited to watch where they go,” he said.

Burk believes in what’s possible at Cretin-Derham Hall. He succeeds Steve Walsh, the former Raiders quarterback and college star who led the Raiders for the past three seasons. Cretin-Derham Hall reached the state tournament in the fall, falling to Owatonna in overtime of the quarterfinals. Walsh will remain with the school in his current role as a major gift officer in the advancement office.

“If you ask people about Cretin-Derham Hall, the first thing they point at is their storied tradition, and I think that is an awesome part of who they are as a school,” Burk said. “And then I see a ton of growth opportunity. President (Jeb) Myers has a great vision. Matt Funk, the AD, I think, really gets it. They’re looking to kind of grow what they’ve been.

“I think for me, personally, I always want to impact kids outside of their football career as people, and I think that value I have about that and growing young men to be great young men is something that they believe in at Cretin.”

The connection with athletes has been on display in recent days for Burk as former players offered congratulations and gratitude following news of his departure.

“That was really impactful to me that I made a difference in their lives. Football is what football is, and we’ve had success, but it’s really … those other things. There’s these successful people walking around that attribute some of it to what we did with football,” Burk said. “So, that made me really proud of what we accomplished.

“I’m thankful and proud of the way that the community (in Lakeville) responded to me and welcomed me and listened to the direction I wanted to push things.”