By: RHETT MANUEL
Sports Editor
Sacred Heart alum and head football coach Jacob Aguillard may be taking on his first head coaching gig, but don’t try to convince him that he and his team aren’t ready for this season.
With several key contributors back in the fold, but some key players to be replaced, Aguillard steps into his inaugural season in charge of Sacred Heart with an eye on keeping the standard that has been established over the past several seasons.
The goal is consistency, and there is something to be said for consistency within a football program.
For fans and alumni of Sacred Heart, there was no questioning the consistency and return of relevancy to Trojan football under former head coach Josh Harper.
After years and years of shuffling head coaches and team identities, none of the changes bringing the desired effect, Harper’s seven-year stay in Ville Platte proved fruitful for the school on many levels.
For one, it helped re-establish the culture of hard-nosed football that the Trojans had hung their hats on for years.
As a result, the wins came in droves with the Trojans regularly in competition for the District 6-1A competition.
Aguillard expects none of those expectations to change in 2023. While he wants to put his own ideas into place, he is aware that the previously established blueprint has led to results.
“There are a lot of times where somebody else may have seen things one way and you see them differently,” Aguillard said. “For the most part we’re keeping things as consistent as possible but putting our spin on it at the end of the day.
“It’s our culture and our program. We want to make sure our kids understand that they have to follow a standard. They need to be disciplined and doing the right thing at all times on and off the field.”
Aguillard takes the helm at Sacred Heart in a year where District 6-1A is seeing massive overhaul.
Of the six teams within the district, only St. Edmund retained its head coach during the offseason.
It will make for a completely different look overall, with many of the teams undertaking new identities along the way.
“As coaches, you do your research. The guy that’s at Opelousas Catholic played us (Sacred Heart) in the first round of the playoffs last year,” Aguillard said. “So, you might be able to go back on film and kind of see what they did. It’s potentially what he’ll do at Opelousas Catholic.
“(Catholic-P.C. head coach Jacob) Carruth was at North Central last season and you see what they did offensively. It’s a lot of changes. But, I told our kids the main thing is going to be who buys in first.
“So, whoever’s team buys in first I think is the team you’re going to see have a lot of success.”
Aguillard is big on culture. But, he should have no shortage of athletes to give his Trojans a spark this season.
Senior Wade Pitre, who played a significant amount of snaps last season at wide receiver and got some game action at quarterback will step into the starting quarterback position in 2023.
It’s a completely different look than Sacred Heart has had in the past couple season.
In 2021, the two-headed monster of Ethan Karonika and Caleb Hood gave teams a lot to prepare for, while last season Hayden Droddy was more of a dual-threat.
Still, Pitre has big shoes to fill in with Droddy being named Parish MVP after a season where he put up over 40 total touchdowns and was Sacred Heart’s leading rusher in the process.
“He had two guys in front of him previously that were really good with their legs and could throw the ball,” Aguillard said. “It’s been understanding how to read defenses with (Pitre), and his legs and arm are better than what people think with him. He trusts his guys and his guys trust him.
“These guys have played together since they were kids, so they trust each other,” he added. “But Wade has done a great job of taking command. He wasn’t as vocal as we would’ve liked him to be in the spring, but I think that goes with transition. But, he’s gotten more vocal and is telling guys to line up and he knows everything there is to know about the offense.”
Pitre will have a variety of weapons with significant experience to pick from to get the ball to.
Chief among them will be senior wide receiver Landon LeBlanc and junior running back Jude Hebert.
LeBlanc was well on his way to being an all-district selection last season before a knee injury sidelined him for the remainder of the year.
But, he appears to be a full go for the upcoming season and ready to make an impact.
“He’s started since he was a sophomore,” Aguillard said. “In the games he played last year, I think he averaged close to 100 receiving yards per game with three or four touchdowns with a couple interceptions (defensively.)”
Hebert was thrown into the fire last season and played well in starting for older brother Blake.
Aguillard also expects a big impact from senior Cole Tate, who is back out for football after spending the past couple seasons focusing on basketball.
“He’s a big kid,” Aguillard said. “He’s a fantastic athlete and just a great kid in general. He’ll bring a lot of length to the table and will be a mismatch because most teams will try to put their best man on (Leblanc.)”
Defensively, Aguillard likes the physicality of a group that will have to replace a lot of faces.
“Being a defensive guy, I like to preach that it wins championships,” he said. “So, we want our best eleven guys on the field for defense.
“I think we’ve created some depth at the defensive back spot and I like where we are on the defensive line. I’m excited to see what we do defensively.”
That unit should be led by senior Ike Perry, who started at linebacker last season and returns to call the shots this year.
With Perry, there is potential on this defense as well.
“Looking at last year’s film, there are probably three or four guys that can potentially have these breakout years and some guys behind them that can too.”
What makes Aguillard most excited though is the opportunity to represent his school after years of establishing himself in coaching circles.
“Being an alumni from here and haven’t necessarily coached here since I played here.
“From a personnel perspective, all the familiar faces and the energy around here coming from building a program. It’s something that’s contagious. I think our kids feel it too and they’re excited.
“There are a lot of guys in this team that are unproven and I think we’re unproven because we only have five returning starters on both sides of the ball. These kids are finally getting their shot this year.”
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