Jon Pereiro first crossed paths with Bob Quinn at their alma mater, Loras College, in 2009.
Pereiro, who graduated from Loras that spring, was going out, while Quinn, who was about to begin a five-year stint as athletic director for the Duhawks, was coming in.
“I can vividly remember seeing him, maybe on one of his visits before he took the job,” Pereiro said.
They have met again in a more formal way. This time, Quinn is going, and Pereiro is coming.
Pereiro has been hired to replace the retiring Quinn as Naperville North’s athletic director.
“There’s a lot of ADs that we cross paths with, and he was one of them, so I knew of him and him of me,” Quinn said. “We’ve gotten to know each other a lot more deeply here over the last couple of weeks as he transitions into the Naperville North job.”
Pereiro graduated from Sandburg in 2004 and then played football at Loras, where his younger brother Frank later did during Quinn’s tenure. Pereiro began his education career as a social studies teacher at a small school in Cascade, Iowa, before Plainfield Central hired him as boys track coach.
Pereiro became Plainfield Central’s football coach in 2016 and assistant athletic director in 2019. He then left the classroom when he was hired as the athletic director at Joliet Central in 2021.
“I’m very happy that I did,” Pereiro said of his decision to go into administration. “It goes back to that belief in the power of coaches and being able to expand that to our entire athletic department.
“I want to grow that understanding of what sports can be for student-athletes, which is a part of the larger school community.”
Pereiro joins a school steeped in athletic and academic tradition. The Huskies have won 32 state championships across 13 sports.
“I’m incredibly excited to work with a staff that is so decorated and veteran and being able to work within a school community that has such high standards academically and athletically,” Pereiro said. “The Naperville community as a whole supports and believes in what athletics are and can be.
“High school athletics have such an important place within the development of student-athletes. I’m so excited that some of my beliefs, in terms of what impact coaches can have on student-athletes, can mesh so well with what a school believes athletics to be.”
Pereiro plans to leave his office frequently to build working relationships with student-athletes and coaches.
“I feel I need to have a pretty active role in what the students are doing,” he said. “That might be different from some athletic directors. The student-athletes will see me consistently and constantly, not only at games.”
At Joliet Central, Pereiro implemented new programming where he meets freshmen and sophomore athletes individually and in group sessions four times per year. He also has leadership groups at all levels.
“We talk about what it means to be a student-athlete at the high school level,” he said. “It’s a mindset for student-athletes. It’s a core part of who I am to be able to work with student-athletes in different aspects outside of coaching and talking strategy. We talk about the larger skills that help them out.”
Quinn has been helping Pereiro familiarize himself with Naperville North’s athletic program and likes what he sees.
“One of the nice things about Jon is he is committed to working really hard in transition,” Quinn said. “He’s finishing up doing a great job at Joliet Central but has made the time when he hasn’t had responsibilities at Joliet to get to know the staff at Naperville North and the things that we do.
“His commitment to the process and being as prepared as he can as he starts on July 1 has been really impressive.”
Pereiro already has attended several sporting events at Naperville North and met with the booster club. He will be just the sixth athletic director in the school’s 54-year history.
Two of Pereiro’s predecessors, the late Neil McCauley and Doug Smith, were inducted into the Illinois Athletic Directors Association’s Hall of Fame, while Quinn is finishing a 10-year tenure in the job. It’s a stellar tradition to follow, but Quinn is confident in Pereiro.
“I’m excited for Jon, and I’m excited for the Huskies,” Quinn said. “He’ll do a great job. He is a great young athletic director who understands athletics, administration and leadership. I think both Naperville North and Jon Pereiro are in a good spot.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.