So. Lafourche fans get their way but will miss Farmer before long

Who do you stand beside, the coach or the administrator?

That’s the dilemma my community has been thrust into this week as the South Lafourche area has been ripped apart right down the middle with the firing of football coach Terry Farmer.

Everyone has a theory and everyone has picked a side. Factions have formed and fans have aligned themselves along each end of the spectrum.

Objectivity is a large part of this job, it’s a part I take very seriously.

as a graduate of South Lafourche, that place is always going to hold a special place in my heart, I’ve felt every last bit of this divide in my own life.

It’s everywhere I go and in every conversation I have.

Stop to get a bite to eat, have a casual conversation. In the process, I’ll tell someone I’m from South Lafourche. The very next words out of their mouth, “What’s the story with Coach Farmer?”

Cover a basketball game at a local high school. While there, run into a parent I’ve gotten to know. He asks, “Why did your school get rid of its coach?”

Heck, I even traveled as far as LaPlace on Friday for a football playoff game and I was asked about the topic all night.

So please excuse me as I refrain from complete objectivity and vent a little bit about this topic, I have no place else to go.

This story is a mess, a complete ball of knots. To try and untangle them just can’t be done. The bayou’s waters are still too murky and will be for quite some time in the midst of such a confusing story.

When it all comes down to it, we end up right back where we started, it’s all about preference and picking a side.

So let me first present both sides of the situation before giving my thoughts on the school’s decision.

Let’s start by looking at things from the perspective of the school’s administration, namely principal Aubrey “Bubba” Orgeron, who pulled the trigger on the firing.

These sentiments below aren’t purely his alone, they are shared by a portion of the school’s fan base who applaud the school’s decision.

Orgeron hired Farmer in 2009 and the principal’s story yields that the marriage was smooth sailing initially. The Tarpons went 10-2 (after just a 1-win season in 2008) in the coach’s first season in Galliano and all appeared to be well in South Lafourche.

People in Tarpon country expected a dynasty to follow the first-year success.

More than two dozen seniors graduated from that 2009 bunch and the marriage quickly went from honeymoon to warning signs of divorce.

The Tarpons struggled in 2010, starting the season 0-5. They rebounded to finish the season strong, saving the coach for one year, but still missed the playoffs.

The team again stumbled early in 2011 and it wasn’t enough to keep Farmer afloat.

Roster numbers dropped for the coach during his stay with the program and his coaching staff had turnovers after every season and even during this season.

The principal and his supporters say that somewhere along the line, something about Farmer changed.

Something about the coach just no longer fit the “big picture” planning of the school.

At this part of the story, we can let Farmer and his supporter’s thoughts bleed into our story.

The coach said he’s confused about the firing, saying he was never given a pure, concrete reason why he was dismissed.

If so much changed, why couldn’t a specific red flag be raised and brought to his attention? If his attitude and character were flawed to the point of no return, why won’t anyone give specific instances that led to his dismissal?

Likewise, Farmer’s supporters point to his track record on the field, it tends to speak pretty loudly for itself.

In three seasons, Farmer led South Lafourche to a combined 19-13 record.

From 2005-08 prior to the coach’s arrival, the school won just 9 games.

The coach didn’t just win the creampuff games on the schedule, he won the games that matter the most. Farmer posted a perfect 7-0 record against district rivals Central Lafourche and Thibodaux, winning by 9 or more points in every meeting. Most of the meetings weren’t even that close and were over well before the final seconds ticked off the clock.

The coach’s supporters also point to the fact that his teams never gave up, in games, nor in seasons.

South Lafourche always played to the final whistle under Farmer and even when out of playoff contention, the Tarpons pushed for as many victories as possible, closing both the 2010 and 2011 seasons red-hot.

So now that we’ve heard the arguments going both ways, let me now introduce my thoughts on the situation.

Summed up briefly, Farmer never had a chance, because the Big Blue faithful were hell bent to run him into the ground from day one.

South Lafourche is the most difficult place in the Tri-parish area to coach, officiate, play, really anything having to do with sports.

It’s 100 percent because of the school’s fans.

Passion is one thing, but sheer foolishness is another. Those lines sometimes blur inside the bleachers of Memorial Stadium.

Let me make sure it’s understood that every school (not just South Lafourche) has a few bad apples in its bunch and 99 percent of Tarpon fans are outstanding people.

At this particular school, that 1 percent always seems to be a little bit louder and rowdier than at most other places, and that is what ultimately led to the school losing the great mind that was calling Galliano home.

Let’s start with what I do know, Farmer was not well liked by parents of players.

From the earliest days of his tenure, he wasn’t a popular hire. Locals wanted South Lafourche boy Ryan Fournier to get the job, most still want Fournier to get the job now that it’s open again.

Even when the team was rattling off a 10-2 season in 2009 (off a 1-win year the year before), fans questioned the coach’s methods every chance they got.

Why? You’d perhaps have to speak to a certain 1984 All-District standout who sat in the middle of Memorial Stadium with a band of buddies or to a few members of the team’s chain gang, both places where a good Anti-Farmer story could regularly be heard.

The reasons the naysayers had issues with Farmer usually were not well-versed, correction, they were never well-versed.

They always revolved around play calling, scheme or playing time. The playing time issues were always about the naysayers’ son, of course.

The burning fire got so hot that the rogue posse even got organized and were willing to take action to remove the coach.

Sources close to the program confirmed to the Tri-Parish Times this week that a small group of parents tried to hold a secret meeting with Tarpons officials early in the season to oust Farmer.

The meeting was halted by the team’s senior class, who said if Farmer was fired, they would all quit the team, which would have forced the team to consider forfeiting its remaining games due to a lack of roster numbers.

So why exactly was Farmer never given a chance, even when having success? Why would the parents take it to that extreme?

Simply put, he wasn’t raised in the South Lafourche area.

Farmer came to the area and didn’t know much about crawfish, he never was one to speak Cajun French. He couldn’t pronounce half of his players’ last names.

And most importantly, he didn’t know who former Tarpons coach Ralph Pere was.

Yes, shame on a Chicago native for not knowing the ins and outs of a small-town Louisiana football coach from the 1970s.

It sounds stupid (and it mostly is), but those things are incredibly important to people of the South Lafourche community. That none of the above things were in Farmer’s repertoire always made him an outsider, someone that people in the community looked at strangely, as someone who wasn’t fit to lead the Tarpons.

Because of that disposition, the fans’ close-minded foolishness has cost them the 2009 Louisiana Coach of the Year and the school is now looking for their fourth coach in the past six years.

When change is so frequent, one has to wonder if it truly ALWAYS is the coach’s fault?

Time moves on, a new coach will be in place and in time, even the most stubborn Cajun will be able to look back and realize South Lafourche fired the best coach they’ve had in decades. The beauty of the situation is the fans who pushed for change will be the ones barking the loudest about how they miss Farmer.

The fans wanted change and they got it, for better or worse.

Orgeron got tired of the bickering and gave into their wishes. Why not? I’d be tired of hearing the same people complaining, too.

The lesson of this story is that everyone wants a change until it happens.

Before one supports the decision either way, I caution you to ask St. James High School how this method worked out for them?

They were last year’s school that just was dying to fire its good coach (Rick Gaille) because he didn’t fit the “big picture” plans.

How’d it end up for them with new blood in the program?

I’ll give you a hint, I won the same amount of games as they did in 2011.

I’ll give you another hint, I didn’t play a single football game in 2011.

I only expect 2 or 3 more wins than that number I’m referencing for the Tarpons next season.

At least then the hollering 1984 All-District standout will have a reason to be disgusted and schedule a meeting.

Better yet, maybe he and his buddies will realize they are the reason this team is headed in the wrong direction, not Farmer.