Leo Cavell
May 24, 2011
James Walker
May 26, 2011
It took a 12-month break from coaching, an environmental disaster and a little bit of lady luck, but longtime college defensive coach Darren Drago has a new home.
He’s now officially a South Lafourche Tarpon.
The former Stephen F. Austin, Northwestern State and even LSU assistant coach has ended a year-long break from the profession and will serve as the Tarpons’ defensive coordinator in the 2011 season – a gig he said he is embracing with a set of spring practices now under his belt.
“The year off for me was about figuring out, one, would I miss it? And two, could I live without it? And the answer was no and no,” Drago said. “So I got back into coaching and I couldn’t be happier to be here working with these kids.”
The way Drago landed in the bayous of south Louisiana is a story that is full of twists and turns.
Drago worked as an assistant coach at his alma mater Northwestern State from 1999-2005, before moving to Stephen F. Austin from 2006-07, where he served as the team’s defensive coordinator in his final season.
From Stephen F. Austin, he moved to LSU in 2008, where he was an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the Tigers.
After returning to serve as an assistant coach at Northwestern in 2009, the coach took a sabbatical from the profession to deal with family issues.
With that break, Drago worked for an environmental company and was deployed to Grand Isle this past year to lend a hand during the BP oil spill.
“I was doing all of the logistics stuff,” Drago said. “I was handling like housing and meals and bus transportation, all of that stuff that dealt with things outside of the job. Because these people were coming in and we were trying to just give them a little bit of a feel for home, you know?”
Drago came in contact with the Tarpons during that summer. South Lafourche was looking to host a boot camp workout on the beach and was looking for a place to stay on the island.
The coach found out about the camp by mistake, but immediately offered to lend a hand when he got wind of the news and realized that he had a vacant hotel to offer to the team.
“I actually found out by accident,” Drago laughed. “Josh Jambon has been a big supporter here. He used to play here. He and I did business together, because he had some properties down there that we were using to house some of our folks. I told him that we had a hotel that we were not using. It was completely vacant. … The kids were able to stay down there. That was sort of the beginning of our contact.”
The Tarpons rolled into Grand Isle and had their boot camp. Drago even was asked to speak at the event by Tarpons’ coach Terry Farmer, who was informed of the coach’s background at the college level.
“I hung out with the team, ate with them and really just had a good time,” Drago said. “Really, that was it. It was just a fun time.”
All was well and several months went by without contact between both sides, until Drago heard from his old buddy Jambon again last winter after the Tarpons completed their 2010 season.
“Josh again got in touch with me and this time, he asked me if I was interested in getting back into coaching,” Drago said. “And of course at that time, I was. I really missed it. So that was it. That’s how I got here.”
So instead of the big business of college football, Drago is back on the sidelines, this time in Galliano, where the Tarpons just wrapped up a set of spring practices, hoping to build on 2010’s 4-6 campaign.
Farmer said he’s excited to have Drago on board. Anytime you can get an experienced college coach on a prep staff, that’s a luxury any coach would love to have.
“He’s been wonderful,” Farmer said. “As far as his knowledge and his mindset and his work ethic, he’s been wonderful; he’s a great guy, a wonderful person.”
The defense South Lafourche will run will be similar to what Drago did in college. That means the Tarpons will likely run a combination of packages.
“He’s got his own thing going,” Farmer said. “He’s got his plan and he’ll implement it. We sat down as a group and we made sure we’re all on the same page. Good things will happen here.”
But Drago said he won’t be able to install the same amount as he would to a collegiate team, adding that he will focus more on fundamentals and teaching the things he saw incoming college freshmen lacking when they made the transition from high school to college.
“It’s hard enough for these kids to be teenagers and everything else they have going on right now in this stage of their life figuring out who they are with school and everything else,” Drago said. “Time constraints keep me from doing the things you do at the next level, so it’ll be more about preparing these kids for the college level with proper fundamentals and things like that.”
And while preparing kids for the next level, Drago said he, himself, isn’t focused on the college game right now, either – adding he’s happy to be at South Lafourche. After all, it seems like fate pulled him here in the first place.
“I’m very excited to be here,” he said. “To be in a place where the community absolutely loves its football and a place with such great kids, it’s an honor. I’m fired up about this. I’m ready to go.”
New South Lafourche defensive coordinator Darren Drago (right) gives instructions during Friday’s spring game. Drago is entering his first season with the Tarpons after several years coaching on the college level. CASEY GISCLAIR
