La Salle College High School announced the retirement of the highly respected John Steinmetz, who coached football at the school for 45 years, on Wednesday.

Steinmetz, a 1977 La Salle graduate, compiled an overall record of 59-36 during his nine years as head coach of the Explorers after 36 years as an assistant coach there. His teams won two Philadelphia Catholic League Championships (in 2015 and 2021) and he earned Catholic League Coach of the Year honors in '15. La Salle went 6-5 this season, losing to powerhouse St. Joseph's Prep in the District 12 Class 6A playoff semifinals.

Steinmetz began coaching at La Salle in 1978 and was the freshman coach, JV coach and defensive backs coach. He became the Explorers' defensive coordinator in 1984 and spent 23 seasons in that capacity (1984-92, 2001-14) before taking over as head coach in 2015.

Steinmetz and La Salle defeated then three-time defending state champion St. Joseph's Prep 28-21 on Oct. 2, 2021, to give the Prep its first PCL loss since 2015 (when La Salle edged the Prep 29-28 in the Catholic League playoffs).

Steinmetz worked with three La Salle head coaches and was part of staffs that secured six PCL titles.

In the release, La Salle said it would begin its search for a new head coach shortly.

La Salle's Davis relentless in 2 sports: The speedy senior stars in lacrosse and football

La Salle football, lacrosse star Stevie Davis on playing for Steinmetz

Star senior running back Stevie Davis, a lacrosse All-American who will play that sport in college for Penn, raved about Steinmetz.

"Playing for Coach 'Stein' was an honor," Davis said. "He supported me since my freshman year and knew I had what it took to play at the varsity level. We used to joke about what I wore to games because I would always wear crazy stuff, in his opinion, so he would always mention that."

Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: La Salle College grad Steinmetz retiring after 45 years coaching football