One Season at a time: Notre Dame Icon Lewis Cook set for fifty-first year in Coaching
by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Legendary Notre Dame of Crowley football coach Lewis Cook Jr. doesn’t dodge the obvious.
The 73-year-old native of Rayne acknowledges that the start of his 51st season of coaching – and 40th as a head coach – is closer to the culmination of an impactful career that includes a place in both the LHSAA and Louisiana Sports Halls of Fame.
Cook’s 401 career wins rank him third all-time in Louisiana history and among the nation’s top 20 active winningest coaches.
“If there were a Mount Rushmore for coaches in our state,” Notre Dame defensive coordinator Jimmy McCleary, who has been with Cook for 27 years, “it would be Coach Cook, (St. Thomas More) coach (Jim) Hightower, (former Haynesville) coach (Red) Franklin and (John Curtis) coach (J.T.) Curtis. He’s just unbelievable in what he’s accomplished, and to still have that passion to be a coach and have the ability to do it at his age.”
Notre Dame completed the 2023 season with a 9-4 record, falling 31-21 at St. Charles Catholic in the Division III state quarterfinals. The Pios handed Cook his 400th career win in the opening round of the playoffs with a 49-14 victory over Green Oaks, the latest milestone in a career that’s included five state championships and two coaching stints at UL-Lafayette as offensive coordinator.
His 40th season as head coach will be his 28th at Notre Dame where Cook left to coach in 1997 where he’s compiled a 301-51 record, four state crowns, and 10 appearances in the state championship game.
“To think I would coach 50 years, I was hoping to get 20 in public schools and get teacher retirement,” Cook said. “It never was a plan to think I’d still be doing this and doing it this long. You just go from one year to the next and start thinking about the next one. Coaching’s in the blood. I hadn’t gotten enough blood out.”
Good health has been of paramount importance to both Cook and his wife of 50 years, Faye. As long his passion for the game remains vibrant, he’ll continue to coach where he trails Curtis (623-80) and Hightower (474-133-1) – both of whom have coached at least 50 seasons – on the state’s career wins list.
“He’s so humble, mild-mannered about things,” said McCleary, who first worked under Cook as a student at then USL, before completing his student teaching at Notre Dame and hasn’t left since. “The kids just see him as coach. They think everybody does what coach does, and then they realize after they get out that not too many people are like coach.
“I don’t think there’s going to be another one like him,” McCleary said. “What he’s done for the community and the state, and how he’s helped other coaches regardless of asking anything in return. They (former players) realize they were around something truly great. He’s one of the greatest that’s ever come through in the history of the sport in Louisiana.”
Cook jokes that at his age, obtaining victory No. 500 is highly unlikely. That’s why his love of coaching isn’t rooted in milestones but in relationships with his coaching staff and the process they’ve gone through to assemble teams over the past 39 seasons.
“Winning No. 400 last year was never a goal,” he said. “It just came along with the territory in staying in this long. I’m fortunate enough to have a great deal of success. (Career wins) No. 200 and 400 came in the playoffs and No. 300 was against Breaux Bridge in the regular season. It’s nice when you think that very few people have done it. That you can last that long, I guess it is pretty special.
“If it was about accomplishments, maybe last year would have been it because I got to 400,” he said. “It wasn’t about that. I ask coaches what they miss the most. I don’t know that I’ll miss the Friday nights as much as being there during the week, getting ready for the game and being with guys. Being with the coaches every day, the lunch on Saturdays for staff meetings.”
A fair man to his players and coaches
McCleary represents the longest-tenured member of Cook’s staff. Dating to his time at USL, he estimates having spent the last 32-33 years learning at the feet of one of the game’s best.
“The way he treats people,” McCleary said. “He treats you with kindness and fairness. If there’s one thing that summed up Coach Cook is that he’s a servant leader. That’s the thing I wanted to emulate as a coach and father, to serve others. He puts people in front of himself, never asking for anything in return. It’s not about wins and losses with him. It’s about doing things the right way, treating people with respect and kindness.”
“I think that’s what brought me to him and why I gravitated toward him, I’m a loyal guy and I’ve been with him from the beginning,” McCleary said. “He’s like a surrogate father to me. He’s really put me under his wing and taken care of me like I’m his son, and I’ll forever be grateful for that. The way he’s treated me, and the kindness he’s shown me and to my family.”
McCleary said it became part of Cook’s philosophy to try to combat more athletic and high-scoring offenses with an offense that was proficient in running the ball and controlling the game, as well as developing a defense to stop the run and limit scoring.
“He understands that we’re not going to score a lot of points, so we have to do a good job of stopping people,” he said. “That’s why he runs the ball, and we want to stop the run in order to be successful. He’s always blessed me with the best players, and given me the room to do what we think is best for the defense and what’s best for the team.”
Although Todd Gray recently retired after 24 years, the Pios have been able to rely on great continuity within their coaching staff. Veteran coach Chris Stevens has been with Cook for a decade, along with former LSU wide receiver Wes Jacob in a non-faculty capacity for the past 10-11 years.
Cook’s also had the luxury of bringing on former players – such as his son Lew Cook III – to join this staff and continue fostering Notre Dame’s success.
Lew Cook III has been a mainstay since the fall of 2000, while Jake Mobert, a member of Notre Dame’s state title team in 2019, enters his fourth season with non-faculty coach Trey Cormier assisting with the offensive line.
“I still enjoy coaching football,” Coach Cook said. “I’ve been blessed to have some good guys around me. I’ve had good help and haven’t had to do everything myself. That makes it nice.”
The blessing of his No. 1 assistant
Cook’s greatest accomplishment, he says, has been his marriage (which turns 51 years in December) to Faye. She’s defeated breast cancer, enjoyed a 39-year teaching career at Notre Dame, and remains a viable source of encouragement.
“Fortunately, I have Faye who enjoys the football season a lot,” Cook said. “She doesn’t mind going to the game and hardly misses. She probably hadn’t missed 10 games in the 50 years I’ve coached. With her being at my side, I still enjoy doing that and makes it easy. If she had gotten tired of doing all of that, it would have probably ended a long time back. I say that’s my No. 1 assistant. Without my No. 1 assistant, I probably wouldn’t still be doing this.”
All in the family
The catalyst in Cook’s motivation to leave Crowley High for Notre Dame was embedded in the family. Not only were the Pios, a long-time Class 2A program under legendary coach Ashton Cassedy, facing a new challenge in Class 3A but with two of his three sons at Rayne Catholic, the eight-mile trip to a new school also afforded Cook the opportunity to coach all three of his sons.
That special run of having Lewis III (who was with his father at Crowley for a year), Jeff, and Stuart over a 12-year span at Notre Dame was memorable.
“Johnny Casanova was sitting in my office the year (2010) after Stu graduated,” Cook said. “He said they were going to miss Stu running and catching the ball. I said there would be someone to do that for us. What I was going to miss was sitting at my desk, and the locker room door was across from my office. Every day I’d hear, ‘Hey Dad’, and Stu would give me that little wave and smile. That was what I was going to miss.”
Final season on the sideline?
Cook’s 28th team at Notre Dame will have its share of experience and depth. What the Pios won’t have, though, is St. Charles standing in their way with the Comets having moved to Division II. There will be the familiar presence of state power Lafayette Christian Academy back in Notre Dame’s District 6-2A and Division III playoff bracket after a pair of Division II state runner-up finishes.
Cook doesn’t mince words at the thought of having his team’s season end the past four consecutive years at the hands of St. Charles, three of those coming in the semifinal round.
But the bigger message from Cook was that he ached because of his desire for all of his players to experience playing in the Superdome during their careers.
“It’s part of the business and it’s disappointing,” he said. “At this stage for me, it becomes more disappointing for the kids. We’ve been blessed to have made those runs and we’ve experienced it. People ask what more can you accomplish? Why are you still doing this?”
“It made me realize of what I’m trying to accomplish hasn’t crossed my mind,” he said. “When we lose those games I’m heartbroken and disappointed. I’m more disappointed that the kids didn’t have a chance to go all the way and experience the things we have. It’s tough to overcome.”
McCleary pointed to a heightened challenge for Notre Dame which has experienced a reduction in enrollment of 200 students since ’97. That’s resulted in a lack of experienced depth and younger players having to see varsity action sooner than expected.
“We’ve lost some talent, but we’re still fighting with everybody else, and we may come up short,” McCleary said. “We’re proud of the kids for doing what they’re doing because it’s harder now than it ever was before. They just fight and don’t give up.
“He’s (Cook) walking slower, but he’s not changing anything he does,” McCleary said. “He’s not going to compromise who he is. We’re going to play with the kids that show up and try to do things the right way.”
Spring and fall camp aren’t parts of the season Cook looks most forward to. Clearly, the competitive juices get flowing at the thought of preparing a team each week for a game with the result charting a course for the postseason.
Staff meetings, where he encourages feedback, are a staple for Cook and the melding of information and expertise helps give the team its best chance of winning.
How much longer will he continue to coach? Cook is not certain beyond 2024.
“I can feel the end coming,” Cook said. “Exactly when that’s going to be, I’m not sure. I’m looking forward to this season. I don’t have a set date. We’ve got a great group of kids. I’m not going into this year thinking it’s my last, but I always think it could be my last. Right now, we’re taking it one season at a time.”