A humbled Duplechin reflects on Hall of Fame career

When he got the phone call saying he was elected to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, Mamou native Claney Duplechin was humbled and surprised, even though suspicions arose about a week earlier when he got a phone call from friend and mentor Pete Boudreaux, who coaches track and field at Catholic High School in Baton Rouge.
Duplechin, who coaches cross country and track and field at Episcopal High School in Baton Rouge, said, “Pete asked me how many state championships I won. We never talk about that. It’s not important to us. We’re above that in our friendship. I asked why he wanted to know, and he said he just wanted to know. I told him 63 and again asked why he wanted to know. He said he had to take care of his man. That’s when I started putting two and two together that there may be something happening.”
Duplechin knew he wanted to be a coach since he was in the 8th grade. “I had a baseball coach who was Weldon Duplechin,” he said. “I talked to him a lot, and he loved coaching. It became a career for me, and, 46 years later, I’m still doing it.”
While in high school at Mamou, Duplechin played all four sports, but he said baseball was his best.
“I would have had some what of a shot to play in college,” he said, “but I didn’t pursue it. I really wanted to, but I was kind of tired with sports. I just wanted to get a degree because I knew I wanted to be a coach.”
Duplechin began coaching in 1975 at Catholic High in Baton Rouge. “I got there and really wanted to coach baseball,” he explained.
“I interviewed, and they said they didn’t need a baseball coach but a track coach to work with Pete Boudreaux. Well, at that age, I just wanted a job and wanted to just get going.”
He continued, “I started coaching track there. I never really wanted to go to baseball after that. I fell in love with track.”
While coaching track at Catholic High, Duplechin was also an assistant football coach for Barry Murphy.
“Barry was a character,” Duplechin said. “He’s a fire and brimstone kind of coach, and Pete is calm and meek. So, it’s like I went from one extreme to the other.”
Duplechin stayed at Catholic High for three years, but his relationship with Boudreaux remained. “We’re the closest of friends,” he said. “He and I go back to 1975 whenever I started at Catholic. He was just a great guy. I learned a lot from him. When I found out I made (the hall of fame), he was the first one I called.”
Duplechin left Catholic High to become head football and track coach at Episcopal High. “During football season,” he said, “I was a crazy hell and brimstone coach like Coach Murphy was until track season when I was meek like Coach Boudreaux.”
“One of my kids met me after a couple of years and asked why I was so different in football and track,” he continued.
“I have some Cajun in me that comes out, and I have the patience and understanding to have that Coach Boudreaux showed me.”
At Episcopal, Duplechin inherited a team that won three games in three years. His first year with the team, they went 1-9. In losing, though, he learned how to be humble and patient. His team then went 7-3 each of the following two seasons. After three seasons as head football coach, he decided to coach cross country.
“I wanted to give football a break,” he explained. “I was athletic director. I could name what I wanted to do basically. I wanted to coach cross country and to be with my kids a little bit more. I loved the sport, and I liked those kids. I liked the way they worked.”
What followed were Duplechin’s 14 state runner-up finishes along with his 63 titles, a total that ranks sixth nationally and two spots ahead of Boudreaux’s count. The 25 straight boys cross country state crowns is second all-time, two back of the national record. Episcopal has won 33 of the last 35 2A boys cross country championships and six times has been voted the top team in all classes. Duplechin’s boys squads have captured 17 outdoor track and field state championships, nine indoors. In 2020, MaxPreps rated the former high school pole vaulter among the country’s top 100 prep coaches in all sports.
Of his coaching accomplishments, Duplechin commented, “Sometimes, I still don’t believe it. I’m just a little Cajun from Mamou who left and went to Baton Rouge. I have humble roots. I speak French, and I’m right there with the people of Evangeline Parish. I still feel that way. I built a camp out there on family land in L’Anse Maigre, and I go out there every couple of weeks to cut my grass. I love going back to my roots.”
For Duplechin, the honor of being elected to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame is more for his school and his humble roots.
“This is not my honor,” he expressed. “This is an Episcopal High School honor, and I feel that way about Mamou. I really feel I’m representing Mamou, and that honor is Mamou’s honor as well. I want them to feel that way.”
He concluded, “It’s very honorable for me to say that I’m from Mamou, and I’m very proud of that because Mamou was very good to me. I had great coaches in high school, and I learned a lot from each one of those coaches and tried to incorporate that into my coaching style.”