Learning from legends

By: RHETT MANUEL
Sports Editor

MAMOU – There are very few coaches who get the opportunity to learn the ropes of their sport from four Hall of Fame caliber coaches in their careers.
Getting that sort of mentorship from one coach of that standing is fortunate.
Four of that caliber? Buy a lottery ticket.
Four of that caliber, all before the coach turns 30? There's reason to believe that something much bigger than yourself had a say in the journey.
That's new Mamou head football coach LaQuintin Lamb's story. Having been in coaching on a volunteer basis since he was 19 years old, Lamb has had the opportunity to learn the ropes from Larry Dauterive, Dennis Dunn, Paul Trosclair and Lewis Cook at one point or another in either his playing or coaching career.
Lamb, 29, brings a trove of experience that far surpasses his age to a Mamou football program looking for a shot in the arm after the school made the decision to take the program in a different direction.
“It's a great opportunity,” Lamb said. “I'm looking forward to getting into this with a good community that's very similar to the one I come from. They love their football and they just want to win, man.”
An Opelousas High graduate, Lamb played his high school ball under Dauterive and moved on to play a year of college football under Dunn at Louisiana College.
When fatherhood was introduced into his life, Lamb made the decision to come home and provide for his newborn son and went down the coaching road.
It was an opportunity at Eunice under Trosclair where Lamb got the vast majority of his experience. That run began in 2014 and Lamb played a role as an assistant coach during the Bobcats’ 2018 Class 3A state championship run.
Lamb, while assisting with the varsity football program, took charge of the feeder program at Eunice Junior High School where he found his voice as a coach and a motivator. That decade of experience also includes nine years of basketball experience, including a stint as an assistant coach with Eunice High's basketball program under Chad Andrepont and as the leader of Eunice Junior High's basketball program.
While Lamb hasn't worked directly under Cook, the Notre Dame legend has offered him valuable advice and mentorship in the past decade as well.
“I come from a coaching tree of really good men,” Lamb said. “I've been fortunate.”
Lamb took something from every coach he's crossed paths with along the way.
“They all had really different styles,” Lamb said of Dauterive, Dunn and Trosclair. “Coach Dauterive was so knowledgeable and very offensive minded. Very personable. He was my coach, but he taught me so much about what to do and what not to do as a player.
“Coach Dunn, I got the Christian side of it all. He showed us how to work hard and how to glorify (God) while doing so. He showed us how to be good men.
“Under Coach Tros, I got a mixture of both. Under him, I was able to make those mistakes and get better as a coach. I took so much from each of them.”
While in Eunice, Lamb also picked up a tradition of wing-t offensive philosophies. In recent years, Mamou has been more dedicated to spread concepts.
With a three-year returning starting quarterback in Dezmond Skinner and athletes at his disposal, Lamb doesn't see the need to completely reinvent the wheel but rather refine it and make it better.
“(Skinner) is a three-year starter and can throw it,” he said. “He's got good pocket presence. But, there are so many skill kids and running backs here that I think we can marry that offense along with some things they've done here before and let the kids have fun.
“Kids want to do what they see on T.V. So, if we can do that effectively then great. But we also want to manage the clock and put ourselves in a position to compete with people.”
But as for why Lamb took this job? It's simple. It feels like home to him.
Be that Opelousas, Louisiana College or Eunice, it doesn't matter.
“It's a small community,” Lamb said of Mamou. “And it's got the right kinds of kids inside this school. These kids are respectful and are knowledgeable. It's a lot like Eunice in a lot of ways. Both are great schools. But, all Mamou needs is the opportunity and I think I can be the guy to help get them there.”
Lamb's vision is not a small one for the Demon program. When speaking to him, it's clear that his vision for the future of Mamou athletics is vast.
Immediately, he wants to get Mamou's kids competing at a higher level and get the program's numbers up.
Long term, Lamb hopes for facility upgrades, home playoff games and to accomplish what so many of his mentors have before him, a state championship.
“Losers worry about losing, and winners worry about competing,” he said. “I’d love to see this school get a track and a new weight room. That's down the line.”
“I want to win championships. But, that starts with hosting home playoff games. I'd love for this community to feel the energy of that atmosphere. So, before that championship comes those home playoff football games.”