Guy LeCompte hits the ground running at Holy Cross

Holy Cross School has a rich history of success in football.

The Tigers won state championships in 1945 and in 1963 and reached state championship games in 1934, 1949 and 1967.

While the Tigers have enjoyed success under Henry Rando and Barry Wilson since John Kalbacher departed the school, they have not replicated the greatness of many years ago.

With the hire of Guy LeCompte as head football coach and athletic director last week, Holy Cross is banking on taking that next step towards greatness.

Known for his relentless competitive spirit and work ethic, including long hours, LeCompte has hit the ground running as the new boss of the Tigers.

LeCompte brings 23 years of experience coaching high school football, having served as head football coach and athletic director of Mandeville High School since 2006 after serving as an assistant at Salmen, where the Spartans won multiple state championships.

LeCompte was the head coach at Mandeville for 11 seasons (2006-16), posting an impressive 92-40 record. He posted winning seasons in all 11 seasons and guided the Skippers to the playoffs in all 11 seasons. LeCompte took Mandeville to the Class 5A semifinals in 2011, 2012 and 2015 and to the quarterfinals in 2007 and 2014. He departed the program with the most wins in school history.

Speaking on The Three Tailgaters Show on WGSO 990 AM with Ed Daniels, Rick Gaille and me Saturday morning, LeCompte said he felt the decision to take the dual jobs at Holy Cross was easy and it was fateful.

“Their mission statement and my coaching philosophy matched perfectly,” Lecompte said. “When I met with them, the administration there and board, it was like, ‘were you aware of our mission statement? It looks like you wrote this after.’ No, I hadn’t seen it. In fact, it was just by chance. In talking and getting to know these guys, this is a tremendous opportunity. I feel like it’s going to be a good fit.”

LeCompte says he has been welcomed with open arms.

“The support has been overwhelming from the whole community,” LeCompte said. “Everyone that I’ve talked to, they’re excited. I feel so blessed to have this opportunity to be part of their institution.

LeCompte feels the Holy Cross experience will be unique, compared to his time at Mandeville.

“It’s going to be different,” LeCompte said. “It’s going to be distinctly different and I think in a lot of good ways. You better do your job well. That’s what I intend to do. I look forward to this. The traditions have been set. It makes it easier. There’s some systems in place that have worked and we’re going to follow those. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel in that aspect. I’m going to do my best to make the Holy Cross community proud.”

While the experience will be a new one, the old ways which have brought LeCompte success will follow him to Holy Cross.

“I have a system that can be adapted,” LeCompte said. “It’s the same offense that we ran at Salmen and ran at Mandeville and it can adapt to multiple personnel. Defensively, I feel the same thing. I haven’t had a chance to really get my feet wet and meeting the coaches, but the couple that I’ve spoken with seem to be phenomenal. Their attitude and their intensity and desire to do something great is just off the charts. I can’t even tell you how excited I am to get in and meet those guys.”

LeCompte will not change everything but will make necessary adjustments.

“I think it’s going to be a good fit,” LeCompte said. “What we’re going to do is to take what worked and we’re not going to change it. We’re going to try to play to everyone’s strength and it will be an evolution.”

LeCompte is aware of the steep tradition, quality coaching and fine teams in the Catholic League,”

“I think it’s going to be fun competing in a very competitive league,” LeCompte said. “It’s been my experience that when you have teams and they work as hard as we require in the work. I’ve had players in the past ask ‘coach, are we keeping this team on the schedule?’ Our players of the past have asked to play opponents like these. I think that’s the easy part. I think that helps us as coaches. It puts us on our ‘A’ game. It keeps you on your toes. You have to be prepared.”

Lecompte has a simple philosophy to winning.

“More games are lost than are won,” Lecompte said. “I think that preparation is the key to success. Our job is to prepare our guys. That’s what I’m going to do.”

At Mandeville and at Salmen, LeCompte competed against J.T. Curtis of John Curtis Christian and Jay Roth of Archbishop Rummel, the two most successful and longest tenured coaches in the Catholic League which LeCompte now joins.

“You develop a lot of friendships through the years … although everyone are competitors,” LeCompete said. “For the most part, the coaches who have been in it the longest, you form stronger friendships with them. The relationships that are developed through competition are good ones.”

Like Curtis and Roth, LeCompte has the daunting task of serving dual roles as head football coach and athletic director.

“It’s just about managing your time and being organized,” LeCompte said. “It is about surrounding yourself with good people and being able to delegate and getting people to do what they are capable of doing and holding everyone accountable.”

As a resident of the north shore, LeCompte will be commuting to Gentilly. As a coach known to work long hours, Lecompte will be spending long hours on Paris Avenue.

“There’s probably going to be some nights that I’m sleeping there,” LeCompte said. “I’m trying to find an air mattress.”

The worker is already at it and has served notice to his competitors.