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The 2018 football season will mark a change for South Lafourche High School.
For the first time in more than 30 years, Tommy Gisclair will not be on the sidelines for the Tarpons as either a head coach, coordinator or assistant coach.
The veteran coach wrapped up his duties with the team during the 2018 spring season, retiring after the school year, thus ending his long tenure with the team.
Gisclair is a South Lafourche High School lifer. He was a player with the Tarpons in the 1970s, then returned as an assistant coach for three decades, even enjoying a stint as head coach of the team in the mid-2000s in which the team made the postseason.
Gisclair said that his time as a coach has been nothing short of amazing, joking that he isn’t sure what he’s going to do with all of his spare time this fall.
He said he plans to follow the team closely, adding that like so many others in that community, he’s forever a Tarpon.
“It’s been an awesome ride,” Gisclair said. “There’s a lot of people that I need to be thankful for. It’s been great and I’ve had fun. … (That first Friday) is going to be a sad moment, but I’ll be happy and pulling for the boys. They’ll always be in my heart. When you do something as rewarding as this, it stays with you forever. I’ve been blessed. I thank the Lord for great opportunities and I’ve just been blessed.”
Gisclair has impacted the lives of literally thousands of players in the history of South Lafourche High School football.
As a player, he was a two-time All-District recipient in 1974 and 1975, also earning All-State in the 1975 season — a year which saw the Tarpons push to the second-round of the Class 4A State Playoffs.
After college, Gisclair returned to the school as an assistant coach and in that role, he got to enjoy the thrill of working under his former coach, the late Ralph Pere.
Gisclair said working for Coach Pere was something he will never forget, adding that he learned so much from his mentor and former coach.
“I had Coach Pere as my football coach, but I was lucky and blessed enough to have him as my mentor as a young coach,” Gisclair said. “I owe him the world. He’s been a blessing in my life. It’s been great.”
After several seasons as assistant coach, Gisclair led the team as head coach from 2004-2006. He resigned after 2006, but stayed on as an assistant coach, most recently working as the team’s defensive line coach under current coach Blake Forsythe.
Forsythe said he’s happy for Gisclair personally that he’s able to head into retirement and enjoy the benefits of his hard work over the years.
But he added quickly that the coach’s departure leaves a huge void in the Tarpons’ locker room because of all of the experience and knowledge that is now lost.
When Forsythe was hired at South Lafourche, he was the youngest head football coach in Louisiana. He still is one of the youngest entering the 2018 season — his second at South Lafourche High School.
Forsythe said Gisclair never looked down on him because of his youth, adding that he’s learned so much from the veteran coach during their time together at South Lafourche.
The head coach said Gisclair was more than just a defensive line coach at South Lafourche, but was a leader among the coaching staff — a guy who helped the team in every side of the ball.
“Coach Tommy has been part of this program for 31 years,” Forsythe said. “He’s coached both sides of the ball. He was a coordinator on both sides of the ball. He’s been the head coach for a while. He’s just such a big part of the community. Everybody here played for him. We’ve got kids whose dads have played for Coach Tommy and then their grandpas played with Coach Tommy. He’s touched just about everybody that’s ever been part of this program and he’s worked with every head coach that’s ever been in this program. You just can’t replace that knowledge base and what he means and the amount of respect he gets just by walking into a room.”
Tarpons’ defensive coordinator Scott Pellegrin agrees. He’s worked closely with Gisclair in the past few seasons and together, they’ve helped sculpt the Tarpons’ defensive unit.
Pellegrin said he, too, has learned a lot from Gisclair, adding that he’s grateful for the lessons he was able to learn from the coach during their time working together.
“It’s hard to replace 30-something years of experience and a wealth of knowledge and someone who was the experienced elder veteran coach in the room,” Pellegrin said. “I’m going to miss him. He’s helped me so much so far and I’m sad to see him go.”
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