Joshua Pierrejean’s road to the NFL began in Mattapan, where he grew up during the height of the Patriots’ dynasty.
Long before he stepped into his current role as a scouting assistant for the Arizona Cardinals, Pierrejean watched the Patriots and eventually developed a voracious appetite for watching game film of teams from across the league.
He had dreams of playing high-school basketball, but decided focusing on football would be more realistic after he stopped growing at 5-foot-10.
“I realized I wasn’t going to be playing basketball for (Boston Latin School) so I might as well go play football,” Pierrejean said. “That’s how I fell in love with it, watching the Pats and the NFL in general during that time period.”
After playing high school football for Boston Latin and collegiately at Bridgewater State, Pierrejean graduated with a degree in business and took a 9-to-5 job in sales. It paid well, he said, but he didn’t feel fulfilled by the work.
A visit with an old friend from middle school, Admir Fehric, showed Pierrejean that it was time to make a career change. Fehric was coaching at Stonehill College at the time, and invited Pierrejean to one of the games and to watch film in his office afterward.
By the end of the film session, Pierrejean couldn’t believe how quickly the time had flown by. That’s what happens when you’re doing something you love, Fehric told him. Pierrejean realized he needed to get back into football full time.
“I was working 9 to 5, but those days were very, very slow and monotonous,” Pierrejean said. “I wasn’t really happy to go to work even though I was getting paid well and [Fehric] was able to see that. I think that was the pivot, the turning point, being in that environment in his office and the time going by in the blink of an eye. That’s when I made it a point to pivot and make a career change.”
The pivot brought Pierrejean to Boston College, where he began as an unpaid volunteer helping out with recruiting camps. He had befriended former Newton South running back Michael Forman, who played college football at University of Buffalo and later embarked on a coaching career of his own.
Forman could see how serious Pierrejean was about football from their workouts during their high school days. So, he introduced Pierrejean to Reggie Terry, who was BC’s Associate AD for Football Player Personnel and Football Operations at the time.
“I think with coaching, its a lot of hard work, it’s a lot of long hours,” said Forman, who is now an analyst on the UMass football staff. “It’s a lot of building relationships and networking and it’s a lot about how you conduct yourself as a guy who usually rises fast. I knew he was capable of all of those traits. It was pretty easy and a no brainer to recommend him to Reggie.”
Over the course of four years, Pierrejean rose the ranks on the BC football staff from unpaid volunteer, to intern, to graduate assistant, to being hired full-time as an assistant director of player personnel.
He kept his expenses low by living at his mother’s house and had saved enough money from his previous job to work for free and chase his dream for a while. He ended up getting his master’s degree from BC while he was a grad assistant.
“Josh was the perfect employee,” said Joe Sullivan, who was BC football’s director of player personnel and recruiting coordinator at the time. “He came in early, he left late. In football we spend about 100 hours a week not only preparing for games but also trying to recruit the best players in the country. Josh was always willing to help in whatever way he could. It started off cutting up film for us to eventually evaluating players.”
“He was able to connect with people of all walks of life from a kid who didn’t have his parents growing up to a kid who grew up in a mansion in Connecticut, so he was able to connect with all different types of people and evaluate them and their playing ability. He was really a great asset for us at BC Football.”
After leaving BC, Pierrejean spent a season on Pat Narduzzi’s staff as Pitt’s assistant director of player personnel.
Then, the Cardinals hired him as a scouting assistant. His job includes evaluating film from college and CFL players and taking care of smaller tasks such as airport runs. This upcoming season will be his first in the NFL.
“I’m just so proud of him,” Sullivan said. “There was the NFL Draft in April and he was on the screen for one of the picks and I took a picture of him and posted about it. Just a kid from Mattapan making it in the NFL, the shield, the ultimate league. It’s awesome that he’s doing that.”
Although he’s more than 2,600 miles away from home, Pierrejean still reps Mattapan and gives thanks to his mother, whom he credits with keeping him on the right path.
“I was a free lunch kid with my family’s income level,” Pierrejean said. “We grew up not having much, but one thing I will say is that my mom raised me right. She’s a very strong woman. She raised me in the church, she did everything she could to steer me in the right place. She would always pray for me and keep me out of trouble, so she’s my rock.”
“Even though we grew up tough and sometimes weren’t in the best situations, that woman worked her butt off,” he added. “She did the best she could to steer me and the family in the right direction. She’s the reason why I am here today and I owe all my success, even though I don’t think I’ve had much success yet, to her.”
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