Saint Peter Public Schools

Saint Peter High School’s varsity football program will have a new face leading the team in the fall of 2024 as long-time assistant coach Justin Helget was recently named as the Saints’ new head coach. Helget succeeds Brian Odland, who stepped down recently after 15 years of leading the Saints on the gridiron.

Helget, who teaches fifth-grade math at Saint Peter Middle School, has been a long-time assistant coach for Odland, working with the varsity and junior varsity teams for the past 11 years. He also has served as assistant Saints’ varsity baseball coach for five years and has coached middle school basketball and football as well. He also coaches football, basketball, and baseball with the St. Peter youth programs. 

“I’m honored to be given the opportunity to work with a great group of athletes, student body, administration, and staff,” Helget said. “I would like to thank our Activities Director, Shea Roehrkasse, and the rest of the committee for giving me this opportunity. I honestly believe being a coach is the best job in the world and I look forward to delivering/creating an unforgettable experience for all our athletes, student body, staff, and the community.”

“We’re excited to get started and to work. A lot of the athletes have been working hard in the weight room this winter or excelling in their winter sport and it's exciting to see them being successful. All those successes will help us next fall.”

Helget, a Sleepy Eye native who played football at Gustavus for a year before joining the Gusties as a student assistant coach, feels his experiences early on under different coaching staffs during his playing and college careers along with working with the Saints have helped make him a better coach.

“While at Sleepy Eye Public High School (he’s a 2006 alum) I played for some amazing football coaches and role models in Rick Gossen, Cory Haala and Dean Deibele,” Helget said. “Those three guys are the main reason I fell in love with the game of football and were my inspirations for wanting to coach. 

“During my time at Gustavus (as a student assistant) I worked with the defense and had the opportunity to learn from Brian Bergstrom (current head coach at Winona State University). Working under Brian was a great opportunity. Just like my high school coaches, Brian fueled my passion for the game and is still someone I follow from afar to this day.

“I’d also like to thank Coach Odland for taking a chance on me as a young coach back then, and I look forward to taking over a program that has come to mean a lot to me as well.”