Boston Celtics Head Coach Joe Mazzulla Visits St. Charles
The “anchor” of Boston Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla’s life is his Catholic faith because “win or lose, you can go back to that faith at the end of the day.” Mazzulla’s faith was just one of many topics he covered during his September 11 visit to St. Charles Preparatory School. He encouraged the students to “desire to be close to God at all times.”
Mazzulla visited the St. Charles campus on Thursday, September 11th. He spoke with the student body in the afternoon in the Frank E. Murphy '54 Convocation Center. Later that night he addressed more than 500 guests as the feature presenter for the school's "An Evening With..." fundraiser.
Mazzulla led his Celtics to the NBA championship in 2024. At 35, he was the youngest head coach to win an NBA title since Bill Russell won in 1969 as a player-coach.
Mazzulla expressed gratitude to his parents for instilling the Catholic faith in him from an early age and making the sacrifices needed to send him to Catholic schools from kindergarten through the twelfth grade. In an interview with editors from The Carolian, the school’s student newspaper, the coach identified Philippians 4:11-12 as a Bible verse close to his heart. In that verse, Paul discusses that he has “learned to be content whatever the circumstances … whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want,” Mazzulla said.
Prior to his interview with The Carolian editors, Mazzulla spoke to the student body in the school’s convocation center, press conference-style, led by a panel of students. Elias Golla ‘26 asked how to be a better servant leader. Mazzulla said it starts with how you treat your wife and children, then it continues by figuring out how to use your gifts for the betterment of society.
Mazzulla is known among his peers as rather unorthodox in his methods of coaching, ranging from his unpredictable drills to his deep care for his players. Mazzulla said at St. Charles that before the season he tries to keep the focus on his players’ mental, spiritual, and emotional health. This extends beyond his team as he expresses his faith through works of charity, significant monetary donations, and his participation in a head shaving event for pediatric research.
Asked how he is approaching the upcoming 2025-26 season, Mazzulla said, "I like being the underdog.” The Celtics lost to the New York Knicks in the 2025 Eastern Conference semi-final.
Mazzulla described to the students his pre-game, prayer rituals that help him “prepare mentally and prepare spiritually.” Before each game he walks around the basketball court with a rosary made from the floor of the TD Garden.
Asked about his well-known relationship with Head Coach Pep Guardiola of the Manchester City football club in the UK’s Premier League, Mazzula said that Guardiola is a “humble and grounded” man, who “shows us how we can win and be successful, yet not lose sight of who we are.”
When a freshman student asked Mazzulla if he could get drafted into the NBA, he responded: “Is the Pope Catholic?”
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