Written by Kevin Foote
Composed for the LSWA
Listening to your older brothers’ advice can be a smart move at times.
However, there was one particular choice, and Danny Broussard, the renowned boys basketball coach at St. Thomas More, is undoubtedly happy that he followed his instincts.
Broussard’s initial goal after graduating from Meaux High in rural Vermilion Parish in 1977 was to work as a coach.
After all, the family had always been quite active in sports, and his two older brothers, Rickey and Brent, were already coaches.
According to Broussard, they were attempting to dissuade me. “Oh, it’s hard, you don’t earn much money, and it takes a lot of hours, so why don’t you do something else?” they said.
In order to make a decision about his future, Broussard studied general studies during his whole freshman year at what was then USL in Lafayette.
He considered becoming a pharmacist. He was always gregarious and enjoyed interacting with and assisting others.
“The only issue with that was that there were too many chemistry courses and pharmacy school was in Monroe, and I didn’t want to go all the way up there,” Broussard said. I excelled at arithmetic but struggled at chemistry.
His advisor approached him after the second semester and demanded a decision.
Broussard declared that he was going to education since he had no other viable options.
Broussard’s initial thought was spot on, in fact.
As one of the most successful high school basketball coaches in the country, Broussard is joining the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame more than forty years later. Information about the Class of 2025 Induction Celebration may be found at LaSportsHall.com. The event will take place in Natchitoches from June 26 to 28.
It wasn’t because his brothers didn’t believe Danny was a capable coach. He’d previously shown that he could.
Broussard led Meaux High’s 4H basketball team to a tournament championship in Kaplan while he was a senior.
He recalled, I found boys at Meaux. We assembled a small squad of fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, and we emerged victorious. I kind of became addicted at that point. This is fun, I recall thinking. I adore this. assembling and preparing them, then observing the outcomes.
Two years later, Broussard assisted Tommy Picard in leading a Babe Ruth kids baseball team to the state championship. I believe we could have won regionals until the club’s star pitcher suffered a lung puncture during the series.
Those early indications of success did not surprise big brother Rickey.
Rickey, who guided the basketball team of Nicholls State to two NCAA Tournament visits, stated, “I never had any doubt that Danny could accomplish great things.” He had a certain something about him.
Young Danny had to make another important choice after graduating from college.
Amazingly, he received an offer to become the head basketball coach at Hanson Memorial in Franklin. Broussard was prepared to accept the offer, but requested a weekend to consider his choices.
His older brother had different plans once more. Just weeks before classes started, Rickey, the head basketball coach at the new school St. Thomas More, chose to take over the math department at Fatima while Danny was corresponding with Hanson.
Therefore, before accepting the position at Hanson Memorial, Rickey pleaded with his younger brother to speak with STM’s administration.
Broussard chuckled, “They offered me $3-4,000 more a year to be a freshman football, basketball, and baseball coach.” I grabbed it because, to a young person just out of college, that’s a lot of money.
It wasn’t a good start as a football coach. He showed promise as a basketball player, but the Cougars’ freshmen team finished 0–8 and failed to score a point.
Amazingly, a major decision was about to be made again.
Since Stephen Rees, Rickey’s assistant coach from Fatima, chose to enroll in medical school, Danny has taken over as the Cougars’ top basketball assistant.
Early in the second season, Bobby Paschal, the head coach of the Ragin Cajuns, called Rickey and offered him a position on his staff. He agreed.
“So who is going to coach St. Thomas More?” I recall asking Rickey. “You are,” he said.
The 22-year-old’s stomach naturally became extremely constricted in a hurry, but his big brother was aware of this.
“I was certain he could pull it off,” Rickey added. Would they hire him? That was the only question. Some members of the STM board expressed a desire to pursue a coach from New Orleans. I needed to visit the board.
I advised them to give him a chance. The players like him, and he is familiar with every play.
Halfway through Broussard’s first game as head coach, those first trepidations turned into full-blown terror. Broussard recalls thinking, “This is going to be a short career,” after trailing Abbeville 23–20 at the half. “You can’t handle this,” they may remark.
After shouting out modifications during the half, star guard Al Fadaol passed Broussard as he was leaving the locker room and said, “Don’t worry, coach. I got this for you.”
He was correct. They defeated the Wildcats 60-44 with to 22 points from Fadaol and 21 from John Simpson.
“My job was saved by Fadaol,” Broussard now chuckles.
After 41 years, Broussard is currently the sixth-most successful coach in the country with 1,162 victories, 171 wins shy of becoming the all-time greatest coach. He has guided the Cougars to 18 seasons with 30 wins, 20 Top 28 berths, 27 district titles, five state runners-up, and six state titles.
Regarding Broussard’s induction into the Hall of Fame, former player Lyle Mouton remarked, “It’s a testament to his longevity, consistency, and success.” He claims that he became a coach by accident. I suppose there are occasions when luck is preferable to skill. He has shown that it wasn’t luck but rather a wise choice.
If it were just luck, you wouldn’t have achieved this level of success for this long.
Even after winning the district championship in his first season as head coach, Broussard assumed the school’s administration would replace him with a more seasoned coach.
I’ve been extremely lucky. He claimed that I was in the right location at the right moment.
When Broussard guided the Cougars to the state championship in 1986, any lingering skeptics were disproved.
According to Broussard, I had found my own by that year. The program was evolving, as I could see.
The youthful instructor had started combining all of his sources of inspiration.
He learned basketball from Rodney Ledoux, his brother’s coach in Breaux Bridge. He utilized the drill sergeant approach to fundamentals from Rickey and blended that with the more player-friendly demeanor of Frank Hardy, who coached the youngest Broussard his final two seasons at Meaux.
“That first year, Rickey convinced me of the value of fundamentals,” Broussard added. We would play some very athletic teams, but I would watch them make a lot of mistakes and lack fundamental soundness. I realized that we would win those games when we didn’t make those blunders in the end.
But I also saw that some of the lessons I learned from coach Hardy worked for me too.
By 1987, the Cougars were ranked No. 21 nationally in the poll, led by Mouton, the future LSU basketball and baseball player, and future UL Lafayette point guard Eric Mouton.
Despite some immediate success at such an early age, Broussard made another significant decision that greatly influenced his career. He knew deep down he didn t know everything about being a basketball coach.
As a result, he relentlessly attended clinics and did whatever he could to learn more about his profession.
I d like to think that we just outwork people, Broussard said. I can name five guys right now that can run circles around me coaching-wise. I m talking about awesome coaches. Those guys motivated me to work hard and go to clinics and learn as much as I could about this game.
In fact, years after Broussard had established himself as one of the state s top coaches, former assistant coach Mike Patin got a call from Broussard to have lunch with him and Roy Petitfils to discuss a matter.
Broussard had gotten multiple technical fouls and even got ejected from a state tournament game and he wanted to investigate that situation.
He told us, I ve got to get better at this. I ve got to get a better handle on this. What can I do? said Patin, who coached with Broussard from 1988-90. He was both vulnerable and really sincere. We gave him some practice suggestions. We were very frank with him and he followed back up with us. I was impressed to no end with that.
He said, I don t want to throw my passion away, but some of my passion is getting in the way.
Indeed, that passion for the game, his team, his school and the relationship with his players is what has helped Broussard overcome all obstacles during his career.
His drive is otherworldly, Patin said.
In the gym, he has the same energy level, said assistant coach Wesley Cortese, who played for Broussard before being his assistant for 15 years. He brings energy every day. When I m having low energy days, he s like, Hey, let s go. It s time to go to work. He brings that energy and he expects that energy.
Broussard s mind is always moving, very rarely slows down, especially during the basketball season.
Neither one of us sleep, but we ll text each other from 5 a.m. until midnight some days, Cortese said.
Broussard s passion ranges into other areas as well, though. He s long been a friend of St. Thomas More s special needs programs.
That s who Danny is, Patin said. I remind him of that. Sure, he can chase the wins and all of that is important, but to me, the biggest thing is the stories, the relationships he has with so many people.
You go to a St. Thomas More basketball game and you re going to see people who aren t necessarily basketball fans. They re Danny fans because of the way he s treated, inspired and motivated them.
Still, Broussard s actual glory years on the floor were yet to come.
Finally in 2013, Trey Touchet sparked a comeback win over the Bryce Washington-led St. Augustine Purple Knights and that second state title has been followed by four more since then.
For anyone doubting Broussard s longevity, many believe this past season might have been the best coaching job of his career. With his leading scorer at 10 points a game, Broussard gave the 2024-25 Cougars a challenge at the beginning of the season.
I told the kids that we had to guard better than any team in the history of St. Thomas More and that s what they did, Broussard said. What a perfect example of buying into what the team needs.
No one who knows Broussard expects him to slow down any time soon.
One year after being briefly benched by triple bypass surgery, Broussard guided his 2025 Cougars to the state championship game and then led the Cougars coaching staff to a victory coaching the West All-Stars in the McDonald s All-American game in New York.
This is one great year for Danny Broussard, Lyle Mouton laughed.
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