Instant Credibility: Tyrell Fenroy brings plenty of perspective to coaching role at Lafayette Christian

by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor

Breaux Bridge’s football team arrived in advance of its game last year in the Kiwanis Jamboree at UL-Lafayette’s Cajun Field. A couple of the team’s younger players noticed striking action photos within the stadium, sending some of them in a frenzy toward running backs coach/offensive coordinator Tyrell Fenroy for confirmation.

Fenroy last played for the Cajuns in 2008 – the year most Breaux Bridge underclassmen were born – and left as the school’s career rushing leader and had his No. 32 jersey retired BEFORE his final home game. 

“They started looking around and saw something that looked like me,” Fenroy said. “They asked, ‘Is that you’? They saw the pictures and the same name, but they didn’t know. Some of them had to put a name to a face.”

Fenroy was one of 10 running backs in college history to have four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. He ended his career with a school-record 808 carries for 4,646 yards and 48 touchdowns, while his 294 points remain third best.

He was inducted into UL-Lafayette’s Hall of Fame last October.

Fenroy was a three-time All-Sun Belt Conference selection, the league’s and state player of the year in 2008, and signed a free agent contract with the Chicago Bears who waived him on May 5. 

Fenroy, who obtained a degree in criminal justice, launched a 15-year career in law enforcement that’s included stints with the Lafayette Sheriff’s Office and Lafayette City Marshal’s office where he’s currently a sergeant. 

Over the course of the past three years, Fenroy moved back to the sideline in a coaching capacity, joining Zach Lochard’s staff at Breaux Bridge for two years, before joining him at Lafayette Christian Academy this season. 

“After I finished playing, I was always trying to find a way to get into coaching,” Fenroy said. “I have three boys and have coached them in St. Martin Parish the past four or five years. I missed the game. I was trying to find a way to get back on the field, find a way to transfer my skills and talents, and what I learned to them.”

Fenroy’s coaching fire was sparked several years ago when he helped coach a 5th-6th grade football team at St. Leo Catholic in Lafayette.

“That burning itch was still there,” he said. “When coach Lochard called about an opportunity, it was a no-brainer. I jumped at that the first chance I got.”

Breaux Bridge, which reached the Division II non-select state regionals in 2023, opened the door for a bigger opportunity for Lochard at Lafayette Christian. 

Fenroy followed and will handle his same duties for the Knights, who have appeared in seven consecutive state championship games across three different divisions, including runner-up finishes the past two seasons in Division II.

“After going into the stadium and fieldhouse, you can feel the championship vibes,” Fenroy said of LCA. “You can feel what was built in the past. It is pressure; you’re coming into what they had. It’s a pretty new coaching staff, a lot more expectations. (Class 4A All-State quarterback) Ju’Juan is (Johnson) at LSU. You don’t have that type of guy there. We don’t want to skip a beat. We want to keep the families and fans engaged, and try to go back to New Orleans.”

Before starring at UL-Lafayette, Fenroy was a standout for legendary head coach Frank Monica at St. Charles Catholic in LaPlace. He finished with 5,714 all-purpose yards and 82 touchdowns, including 1,580 yards rushing and 34 TDs on 166 attempts.

Fenroy’s prolific numbers continued in college, surpassing quarterback Brian Mitchell as the school’s career leader in rushing. He showed that a player with a 5-foot-10, 205-pound frame was enough to power past tacklers, but his heart and desire made him elite. 

It makes Fenroy the perfect candidate to transfer his message to high school-aged children with the same dreams he once had.

“Most of the time it helps; to be able to reach them,” Fenroy said of his success in college. “I can show kids that an average guy with average height and weight could do it with this body structure. To come from my community in LaPlace, it boosts their confidence to think that if I can do it, they can do it. That gives them motivation to do it the same way.

“I try to teach them it’s more about durability, getting that extra yard or extra inch, but also be smart,” Fenroy said. “You want to play the game for a long time and preserve your body as much as possible. Protect yourself, and protect your head. I was fortunate to not have a major injury.”

Playing for Monica, a member of the LHSAA and Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, gave Fenroy the ultimate coaching standard to emulate.

“He instilled principles and standards as a player and it transfers over as a coach,” he said. “I’ve used that after being under him and it’s helped me tremendously. Coach Monica’s a tremendous person, to see how he did things and to utilize that, and to try and pour that into guys in a different generation now. I still use those guidelines and principles today.”

Juggling an 8-to-5 p.m. job, coupled with his coaching duties, has proven to be a challenge, but once school begins in the fall, and the season kicks off in September, Fenroy will be in his element at practice and coaching in games.  

With his decade-long stay in law enforcement, Fenroy’s able to impact today’s kids before a handoff is ever made. He’s routinely spoken to players at both Breaux Bridge, and now Lafayette Christian, about how performance in the classroom, and actions off the field, can serve as a catalyst in life.

“I tell them every day the athletic side and football side is secondary,” Fenroy said. “I teach the same thing to my kids (three boys), that if you’re not doing what you need to do off the field and in the classroom, you can’t perform while you’re on the field. You won’t get the opportunity to perform because that’s what colleges and beyond look at. 

“The (colleges) look at kids who are able to have a strong mind and how you’re acting when nobody’s watching you off the field,” Fenroy said. “Once you handle what you’ve got to do grades wise, and off the field, you have younger kids looking up to you and see how you’re doing things. You have to be a role model for everybody that you come into contact with.”