Tarpons relieve Nowlin of duties

For the second-straight offseason, South Lafourche High School is looking for a head football coach.

South Lafourche High School principal Gaye Cheramie confirmed to The Times this week that first-year coach Brandon Nowlin was relieved of his coaching duties last Tuesday during a meeting with administration.

The team was informed of the decision on Wednesday morning, though word got out to many by last Tuesday night through social media and other outlets.

In a statement, South Lafourche principal Gaye Cheramie offered no details regarding the decision, adding that the school wouldn’t comment any further on the situation, because of its rules regarding how it handles employees.

Nowlin is still an active employee of the school as a physical education teacher. After the meeting, he was removed from his football coursework and into general student population PE classes.

“South Lafourche High School has relieved Coach Brandon Nowlin from his coaching duties,” Cheramie said in a statement. “We are taking the program in a different direction. We wish the best of luck to Coach Nowlin in his future endeavors.”

Nowlin was not expecting the decision.

At the school’s weekly Quarterback Club Meeting last Monday night, the coach got support from more than a half-dozen parents, who said they loved the job he was doing with the team – even after the Tarpons underperformed lofty expectations and finished 3-7 in District 7-4A.

At the meeting, a lot of Nowlin’s address to the parents and boosters was about the 2017 season. He

said he “couldn’t wait” to attack the offseason – his first full one in Galliano, because he didn’t arrive at the school until June.

“I want to get our guys bigger. I want to get our guys stronger. I want to get our guys better,” Nowlin said. “We want to be a championship-winning team, and we won’t stop our work until we get to that level.”

But it never panned out, and it ends a tenure that was seemingly over before it ever started.

Nowlin was hired by the team this past spring after spending 2015 as the offensive coordinator at Livonia. Before that, he has coached at Nicholls, Central Arkansas and was the head coach at Morgan City, enjoying success at each spot.

A lot of the players Nowlin signed while coaching at Nicholls are starters during the team’s current run to prominence.

In his one season as a Tarpon, South Lafourche had the poor record, but there were several reasons contributing to the lack of on-field success.

A rash of injuries squeezed the life out of South Lafourche’s depth chart.

It was an ailment that got so far-reaching the Tarpons had to play sometimes four or five quarterbacks in games – alternating players in direct snap runs to try and muster offense.

It is not yet known the school’s timeline for hiring a replacement.

Cheramie said the school has not yet posted the job to begin collecting applications – in part because it does not have a teaching spot open to offer at present.

When Nowlin was hired, he was picked from a candidate list that featured coaches from around the Southeast and even beyond.

At the time of his hire, Cheramie said he was chosen because of his experience and his ability to bring energy to the program.

“Coach Nowlin is well liked by our kids,” Cheramie said at the school’s 50th Anniversary Celebration. “He’s someone that we’re very, very excited about. He has experience at difference places and different levels, and we think it’ll be a great thing that he will be able to share that knowledge with our young student-athletes throughout the season.”

But it never clicked, and now, the team is searching for something new – again.

It’s widely expected that a new coach will be hired well before spring practices and will have the entire offseason to get ready for 2017.

‘I want to get our guys bigger. I want to get our guys stronger. I want to get our guys better. We want to be a championship-winning team, and we won’t stop until we get to that level.’

Brandon Nowlin, outgoing coach at South Lafourche High School. The coach offered these comments to the program’s fans and supporters last Monday night, expressing optimism about the future. He was shockingly relieved of his duties just 24 hours later by school administration.