2021 LHSAA Class 3A Football Coaching Changes

by Hunter Bower // GeauxPreps.com Owner

Behind The Changes

Number of hires: 14

Best hire: Cyril Crutchfield, Bogalusa

Hardest to replace: Ryan Manale, De La Salle

Best job: De La Salle

Toughest job: Collegiate-BR, Pine Prairie

Most interesting: Cyril Crutchfield has enjoyed a considerable amount of success at each school that he’s called home over his last three decades as a high school football coach. We enters a unique situation in his first season as the skipper at Bogalusa High School. The Skippers have not turned in a winning season since 2015 despite a few playoff appearances. Will Crutchfield be able to create a spark in the struggling program and even snap a decade long state title game drought? Only time will tell.

District 1

Bossier hired Deaumonte Johnson to replace Mike Concilio, who stepped down and is now an assistant at Parkway. Johnson, an All-American cornerback at Grambling, takes his first head coaching job after spending last season at Calvary Baptist. He helped lead the Cavaliers to the Division IV state championship and had plans to coach wide receivers at Parkway before getting the call from Bossier. Concilio was 58-84 in his 14 seasons at the helm of the Bossier High Program. The Bearkats’ last playoff appearance came in 2019 that finished with a 7-4 mark.

Green Oaks hired Chadwick Lewis who replaces Terrence Isaac, who accepted the head coaching job at Vermilion College in Minnesota. Lewis previously served as head coach at Grace King before making the move back to North Louisiana. He served as an offensive coordinator at Port Allen and Huntington with another stint at Byrd. Lewis has ties with the Shreveport/Bossier community as he lettered with the Byrd Yellow Jackets. Green Oaks is coming off of a district championship last season as well as its third consecutive playoff appearance.

Loyola Prep appointed Mike Greene as its interim head coach following the departure of Scott Mallien. A coaching legend in the Shreveport area, Greene returns to the program he led back in the mid-1990’s in hopes of bringing the Flyers back to prominence. Under the veteran coach, Loyola Prep made an appearance in the 1994 Class 2A state championship game. Greene also served as head coach at nearby Airline and Fair Park. Loyola Prep is 31-22 in its last five seasons with two trips to the quarterfinals.

District 2

No changes

District 3

Caldwell Parish promoted Jimmy Sampson to succeed Buster Duplissey, who retired after serving 30 years as coach for the Spartans. Sampson served as the defensive coordinator, linebacker and strength coach for the Caldwell program over the last five season before his elevation into the head role. The former Wossman product played collegiately at Mississippi College prior to starting his coaching career. Duplissey went 30-21 along with four playoff appearances in last his five seasons with the Spartans. He led Caldwell to a 10-2 mark in 2019.

District 4

St. Louis Catholic hired Brock Matherne to replace Chad Lavergne, who stepped down during the spring semester. Matherne most recently served as an assistant at Cecilia where he helped the Bulldogs to a 7-2 record in 2020 before taking charge of the Saints program back in May. He has also coached at South Lafourche and John Ehret. St. Louis was 16-16 in three seasons under Lavergne, who led the Saints to a semifinal appearance in 2019.

District 5

Pine Prairie elevated Richard Clark to permanent status as head coach following last season. During the 2020 season, Clark served as the interim coach but suffered an 0-7 mark in the shortened season. The Panthers have lost 21 straight games with its last win having come back in late 2018.

District 6

Crowley promoted Kyron Benoit to the head coaching spot following the departure of Jeptha Wall. A former player for the Gents, Benoit was elevated after having served four seasons as the squad’s defensive coordinator. Crowley was winless in 2020 but is only four years removed from a quarterfinals appearance.

Kaplan hired Cory Brodie to replace Stephen “Tank” Lotief, who took the head coaching job at Breaux Bridge. Brodie arrived at Kaplan after two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Vermilion Catholic helping the Eagles to a 19-3 mark. Brodie is the son of Craig Brodie, who served as head coach at Catholic High and Berwick and is the nephew of Brent Indest, the former head coach at Kaplan and Catholic High. Kaplan was 44-18 over the last five seasons with three consecutive trips to the semifinal round from 2016-2019.

District 7

Baker hired Richard Oliver to replace Claude Coleman as head coach. Oliver returns to coach the Buffaloes following a head coaching stint at McKinley as well as an assistant coach at Sumter High in Georgia. Baker went 0-7 last season after back-to-back 7-5 seasons that ended with deep playoff runs.

Collegiate-Baton Rouge hired Charlies Brooks to take over the program after sitting out the 2020 season due to the pandemic. Brooks most recently served as an assistant at Capitol as well as Glen Oaks takes his first head coaching job in hopes of building a program that has yet to win a football game in two seasons of varsity play. Brooks played at Northwestern State before moving into coaching.

District 8

Albany promoted David Knight to head coach following the departure of Mike Janis, who stepped down to become an assistant at Dutchtown. Knight served as the Hornets’ defensive coordinator two seasons prior to his promotion to head coach. He was also the softball coach for the Lady Hornets and even led Holden to the Class B state title in 2017. Albany finished 3-4 last season snapping a string of four straight playoff appearances.

Bogalusa hired Cyril Crutchfield to replace Adam Brumfield, who left to take the head coaching job at Varnado. Crutchfield is one of the state’s most notable coaching figures having led multiple programs to state championships in his 27 years of coaching. He guided Port Sulphur to a state title win in 2002 and won back-to-back titles in 2007 and 2008 with South Plaquemines. In all, Crutchfield has been to five state-title games. He most recently served as head coach at Broadmoor, West Jefferson, St. Augustine and Landry. Bogalusa finished with a 3-4 mark in 2020 but has not enjoyed a winning season since 2015.

District 9

No changes

District 10

Sophie B. Wright hired Kenneth Dorsey to replace Dennis Christopher, who stepped down after three seasons at the helm. Dorsey comes to Wright after having served stints at Booker T. Washington, St. Augustine and Amite. He served as an interim head coach for St. Augustine during the 2019 season helping lead the Purple Knights to a quarterfinal appearance. Sophie B. Wright was 7-21 under Christopher’s tutelage and last appeared in the playoffs in 2018.

District 11

De La Salle promoted Graham Jarrott to head coach after Ryan Manle took the head coaching position at Jesuit. A former player for the Cavaliers, Jarrott takes over a program that has made three trips to the state championship game in the last four seasons. A former offensive coordinator at Rummel and Jesuit, Jarrott was instrumental in leading both schools to state title wins (Jesuit in 2014 and Rummel in 2019). Manale was 76-25 in nine seasons as De La Salle’s head coach.