New man in charge

Coward tabbed as Bulldog hoops head coach
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After sitting in the copilot seat for the last eight years, Launey Coward is now the man in charge of the Ville Platte High Bulldog basketball program.
The 1995 alumnus was tabbed as the head honcho after Tommy Jones stepped down two weeks ago. Coward, a long time coaching veteran in the parish was realistic and confident about his promotion to the top spot.
“I just thought to myself that is was my time to step up and take over the program,” stated Coward. “Now, all eyes are on me. I’ve been preparing for this for a long time now. The good thing is that since I have been with the program for the last eight years, the players know me and they know what I expect from them. My mind set is just to go out and do the job.”
As a youngster, Coward picked up the game “on the streets.” According to Coward, his level of self-confidence was not high enough to allow him to start playing organized ball until he was in the seventh grade at Ville Platte High.
“When I was young, we would get off of the bus and go outside and play,” said Coward. “There was no EPYB when I was young so you didn’t play organized ball until you got to James Stephens Elementary.”
“I didn’t think I was good enough to play, so I did not go out for the team at James Stephens,” Coward continued. “By the time I got to Ville Platte High, I became a better player and gained enough confidence to try out for the junior high team at Ville Platte High.”
Coward spent the next two seasons playing seventh and eighth grade basketball and then moved up to the high school team as a freshman. As a freshman, Coward was mostly utilized as a junior varsity player but learned enough to get some varsity playing time during his sophomore year.
All this time, Coward was becoming an even better football player. With recognition coming his way on the gridiron, Coward decided to forgo his junior basketball season; something he regrets to this day.
“If I had to do it all over again, I would have never given up my junior year on the basketball court,” commented Coward. “Now that I look back on it, I believe it wasn’t a lesson for me personally, but a lesson that I could pass on to the kids I coach today.”
Coward went back to the basketball team his senior season and finished out his high school career as an accomplished three-sport athlete, earning all-district and all-parish honors in football, all-parish in basketball and regional appearances at the regional track meet in the javelin.
Upon graduating from Ville Platte High, Coward contemplated what his next step in life would be. Oddly enough, coaching was the farthermost thing on his mind.
After a brief thought of joining the military, Coward decided to attend Southern University and major in Sociology and Criminal Justice. Coward received degrees in both disciplines, becoming the first person in his family to do so.
With degrees in hand, Coward worked a number of jobs, including a half-way house, a prison, and a juvenile detention center. Coward moved to Houston for a job with the juvenile probation center.
Coward and his family found their way back to Ville Platte, where his educational career soon took off. Following a stint at Cameron Iron Works, Coward began substituting for the Evangeline Parish School Board.
Because of his ability to handle the kids, Coward received a call from the school board administration to teach English at Chataignier Elementary. But, before Coward could walk through the doors, he was offered a physical education spot at Ville Platte High.
One year later, Coward found himself at Mamou High school, assisting in football and basketball. During this time, Coward completed his teaching certification through Louisiana College.
Coward looks back on this time as a pivotal era in his coaching career. It was here that he was able to get guidance from one the best coaches to don a whistle in Evangeline Parish, John Jack.
“Coach Jack was a tremendous influence on me personally and professionally,” stated Coward. “He taught me so much about how to be a coach and a mentor to the players. He wasn’t just about the X’s and O’s, but he was also about forming the players into young men. To this day, I still use the things he taught me.”
A couple of years later, Coward was back at Ville Platte High coaching football under Roy Serie. When Jones took over the basketball job, Coward became his assistant and the rest, as they say is history.
Coward credits his mom and his brothers as the biggest reason why he has been so successful in his career.
“The main reason I am the person I am today is my mom,” said Coward. “I watched her struggle as a single parent, raising four boys. But, she always had a tremendous work ethic. I have always wanted to make her proud.”
“My older brothers have always had my back,” Coward continued. “They are always there with words of encouragement no matter what happens. My younger brother coaches with me, so he is also there to pick me up when I need. That gives me the strength to move forward.”
Coward has had the privilege of coaching both of his sons, Terez and Korrin and his daughter Kaydan Coward.
“Coaching my kids is weird because you try not to cross that line between a coach and a parent,” said Coward. “I tried to distance myself from them while we were on the field or the court or the track. After we would get home, then we could talk about what went on at practice or in a game. I tried hard not to show favoritism toward them.’
Now that he has the controls of the program, Coward is hoping that he does not hold back on letting the players know what is expected of them.
“I want the players to know that basketball is not life it is a part of your life,” commented Coward. “I want them to realize that the same effort energy you put in at practice, needs to be put into the classroom. I want them to try to better themselves and to understand their responsibility to society.”