By ROBERT L. LEE

RESERVE – The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board hired Larry Dauterive as the head football coach and athletic director for East St. John High School Thursday night.

Dauterive, 59, will leave his current position as the offensive coordinator for Ouachita High School in Monroe to begin as the athletic director March 1 and commit the remainder of his career to St. John Parish and its students.

“We received 22 applications for head coach, two for the athletic director, but I believe Dauterive should lead East St. John to the next level where we should be,” said St. John School Board Superintendent Michael Coburn.

“He’s a dynamic coach and a strong disciplinarian. He’s come with very, very high recommendations.” Coburn said one of Dauterive’s first priorities will to build a better program to lead students from St. John’s junior high schools to move on to East St. John High School.

Dauterive has amassed 34 years of experience at schools across Louisiana, with 18 years experience as a head coach in schools from Lafayette, Winnfield, Opelousas, Opelousas Catholic and at Riverside Academy from February 1988 through January 1989. As head coach, Dauterive has a record of 155 wins, 49 losses and one tie. Dauterive was also Louisiana Tech’s offensive coordinator for almost six years and spent one year as the offensive coordinator for the British Columbia Lions in Vancouver, Canada.

He replaces head coach and athletic director Ronnie Stephens, who resigned from the position shortly after the Wildcats’ 4-6 football season.

Dauterive explained that after one football season as the offensive coordinator in Ouachita, he already missed calling the shots and wanted to return to a school as a head coach.

“The superintendent told me I had all the votes for the position and I’m looking forward to it,” said Dauterive. “I missed making the decisions and I wanted to get back in the fox hole with coaches who want to work and kids who want to play. I am excited to roll up my sleeves and get started on March 1.”

Dauterive said the school board didn’t make him any promises, but to “support me in my quest for excellence.” He said he is a straightforward man and he liked the straightforwardness of the school board.

Dauterive explained his four main reasons for applying for the position with East St. John High and why he is excited to be a part of St. John Parish.

“First, I wanted this to be my last stop. I am committed to buying a house in LaPlace or Reserve,” he said. “Second, I wanted to be closer to my two grand babies. In Ouachita I was too far of a drive from them.

“Three, I wanted a job with a 4A or 5A school. Ball is ball, but I wanted to finish with a 4A or 5A school. Four, I wanted to be in a place where I felt every Friday night I had a chance to win and in 15 of the last 20 years, somebody from this area has won a championship.”

Although he will be the head football coach, he is determined to see not only football succeed, but will do anything he can to help all of East St. John’s programs.

“I am a man with zero hobbies,” Dauterive continued. “I go from home to school. That’s what Larry Dauterive is about.”

He said he did not know much about Stephens or his program, but he said the football program at East St. John High School “is not broken, it just needs some tweaking. I’m going in with a clean slate. I don’t know exactly why the position was open, but I applied for it,” he added.