Brady Benoit leaving Northshore to become head baseball coach at Mandeville

Brady Benoit is departing Northshore after two seasons to become the new head coach at Mandeville.

“It was a very tough decision. A couple of deciding factor for me is Mandeville is where my stepdaughters go to school and it is where I live. The facilities are excellent. It is tough leaving Northshore, leaving Bill Gallagher and Danny Davis. It was simply an opportunity too hard to pass up with all the factors combined.”

Benoit started as a student assistant at UNO in 2000 before serving as the head coach at Ridgewood over four years. He spent three years at Archbishop Rummel under David Baudry, two years with Joe Scheuerman at Delgado, seven years as head coach at Fort Worth Country Day (Tex.) and two years as the head coach at St. Martin’s before heading to Northshore.

“Just playing against Mandeville and scouting them, I am familiar with the team. They only graduate there seniors. There is talent here. Ricky Nolan did a good job here. We just want to build on it. We need to keep talent home at Mandeville. The summer will be very important for us to gain familiarity.”

Mandeville was 14-17 while Northshore was 18-16 this past season. The Skippers had the lone win in-state against defending state champion Catholic High until the Bears lost to Archbishop Rummel Thursday in the Select Division I semifinals. Mandeville reached the Non-Select Division I playoffs, falling in three games at Dutchtown in the opening round.

“Both Mandeville and Northshore played tough records,” Benoit said. “The records were not indicative of what kind of teams each program had.”

Mandeville principal Christian Monson and Benoit attended grammar school together.