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The coaching profession is a nomadic one, in that coaches often change jobs every few years, traveling to new and unfamiliar places. But for Chad Callais, his career as a coach has been anything but nomadic. Two weeks ago, Callais was hired as the head football coach at Central Lafourche, his alma mater, leaving a coaching job at his college alma mater, Nicholls State.
Callais played for the Trojans from 1987 to 1990 and served as a coach during the 1999 season.
“I’m very excited to come and have the opportunity to be a head coach at my high school alma mater,” said Callais. “Of course, it was also a great experience to coach at my college alma mater, Nicholls State. But again, to come back home and be the head coach and be able to develop and mold the program, I’m extremely excited about it.”
Callais, a Lockport native, spent the past two seasons as the offensive line coach at Nicholls. In his two seasons there, the Colonels boasted the second- and sixth-ranked rushing offense in the nation. Those rankings came in the triple-option offense, a system that Callais plans to implement at Central Lafourche. “We’re going to run the triple-option,” he said. “We’ll be double-slot, triple-option. Of course, we’re going to adjust as the personnel comes through the school.
“If we have a great quarterback come through, we’ll definitely adjust our personnel to fit his abilities.”
The 34-year old coach said his main goal is to help the team succeed through hard work and disciplined football. “We’re going to have to work hard,” he said. “As I addressed the team (last Thursday), it’s not going to come easy. But they have a chance to be a part of something special—turning around a program. And it’s all going to come from hard work. There are going to be sacrifices you have to make to become a champion.”
And becoming a “champion,” Callais said, is something that will help to restore pride into a program that hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2001. “That’s what part of my goal is,” he said. “To bring back the pride and tradition that this school’s always had. Put a little fear into opponents whenever they see Central Lafourche on the schedule, and not just have them chalking up a win. We’re bringing the pride back, and it’s going to all be through work.”
He added that the importance of those characteristics in a football team were taught to him through past coaches. “Just running a disciplined program,” he said. “The importance of academics will be stressed, along with how to treat kids. There’s a way to treat a kid that you don’t have be verbally abusive. You can coach them and they will listen. I was fortunate to learn from a few different head coaches.”
While at Nicholls, Callais also served as the team’s chief local recruiter. The position offered him an opportunity to see local schools that the Trojans will be competing against. “I guess, coming into the job, I have an overall view of the talent throughout the league,” explained Callais. “It’ll help. Seeing as much film on your opponents as possible is always good. Through recruiting, you get to watch a lot of game tape of the recruit, so you get a feeling for the basic offenses and defenses that were run throughout the district.”
Callais stressed that his focus is to restore pride into the Trojans’ football program. “We’re just excited to get to work,” he said. “We just want to once again have a program that our administration, the parish and the community can be proud of.”
Matt LeBlanc can be reached at matt@tri-parishtimes.com.
Photo by Doug Keese/NSU * Chad Callais was recently hired as Central Lafourche’s head football coach. Callais spent the past two seasons as an offensive line coach at Nicholls State.
