Former coach returns to Thibodaux with playoff hopes

When Lenny Ford resigned as the Thibodaux Tigers football coach in November, principal Kevin George said he would look for “someone that can get us back to the glory days.”

No time was more glorious for Tigers football than the five-year run of Dennis Lorio, which culminated in the 1991 Class 5A state championship.

“The last playoff win at Thibodaux was the one in the Superdome,” said Lorio, 56.

So after a 17-year absence, he returns to lead a new generation of Tigers. This stint will be a far cry from his last go-around.

“When I came in before, things were pretty down,” Lorio said of the six-year playoff drought before his arrival in 1987.

After going 3-7 and 4-6 his first two seasons, Lorio led Thibodaux to three straight district championships and deep runs into the post-season. In 1989, the Tigers posted an 11-3 record and hosted the state’s No.1 ranked team, the Shaw Eagles, in the quarterfinals.

Thibodaux came back from a 21-point deficit midway through the third quarter to end regulation tied at 34. In overtime, Shaw scored a touchdown but the extra-point attempt was blocked.

The Tigers scored a touchdown on its possession and its extra-point attempt was good for a 41-40 win. Fans flooded the field and tore down the goalposts in celebration.

“I have never had that experience before or since,” Lorio said.

The semifinals against Ouachita was a different story.

“They beat us 47-8, and it wasn’t even that close,” the coach recalled.

In 1990, Thibodaux went 13-1. That lone loss came in the semifinals to the eventual state champions and second-ranked team in the country, Ruston, 27-3 in front of 13,500 fans at John L. Guidry Stadium.

The Tigers again went 13-1 in 1991, but that year, playoff fortune shined on them. After surviving three very close contests, the Tigers were Superdome-bound.

In the state championship against Neville, Thibodaux trailed 12-0 at halftime. “We had about 60 yards of offense,” recalled Lorio. “A lot of people left the game. They thought it was over.”

During the three-year playoff run, Lorio led Thibodaux to 22 come-from-behind victories after halftime.

While the defense held Neville to a field goal, the offense scored two touchdowns and a two-point conversion to tie the game at 15.

On the first play of overtime, Thibodaux recovered a Neville fumble at the 10-yard line. The Tigers lined-up for the apparent game-winning field goal, but Lorio had a different idea.

Holder Roland Joesph faked the attempt and tried to throw a touchdown pass but was tackled. “We had two guys open on the play,” Lorio said.

On the next play, David Constant kicked the field goal for an 18-15 victory.

Lorio left Thibodaux soon after to take an assistant coaching position at Louisiana State University.

“Joe Dean (former LSU athletic director) asked if I was interested in coaching college,” said Lorio, an LSU alum. “It was a great opportunity.”

“When you spend time breaking down Steve Spurrier’s offense, all the SEC offenses and also their defenses, you learn a lot,” Lorio said. “It’s like a new alphabet.”

His time at LSU was stressful for him and his family, wife of 34 years Annette and three children, Craig, 30; Renee, 27; and Thomas, 25.

Along with coaching and raising a family, he earned his master’s degree in the Humanities in 1993 and master’s-plus 30 in 1994 researching sports recreation during the Civil War.

“When coach Gerry DiNardo came in (1995), it became clear I needed to pursue returning to high school coaching,” Lorio said.

Since then, he has coached at Plaquemines, University Labora-tory and, last season, at East St. John High School alongside son Thomas, who was a captain on the 2005 Southland Conference champion Nicholls State football team.

“That was special; he was the tight end coach and I was the offensive line coach,” said Lorio.

Coach is not the only title Lorio holds dearly. He has been a teacher in Louisiana schools for 34 years, 26 as a math instructor.

When Thibodaux’s head-coaching job opened, Lorio accepted. “Timing is everything, and this time it was right,” he said.

Former coach Lenny Ford, who was defensive backs and special teams coach for the ’91 team, led the Tigers to four playoff appearances in five years.

“We’ve got a lot of hard-working kids, good senior leadership and the skill positions are comparable to what I had here before,” he declared.

Another thing he inherited was a tough non-district schedule that includes perennial winners, West Monroe, Vandebilt and Lutcher high schools.

With 60-70 freshmen expected next season, deploying his two-back, throw anywhere anytime offense may take time to develop.

For any Tiger fans already thinking about a trip to the Superdome, Lorio has set a slightly lower goal.

“Winning a playoff game hasn’t happened in 16 years; so that’s step one,” he insisted. “There’s no way you can think of anything beyond that. We’re going to put all our focus into earning a playoff spot and getting a playoff win and take it from there.”