Head Coach Corey Bordelon Looks to Lead De La Salle (New Orleans, LA) to a Strong 2010 Season

Corey Bordelon's first coaching job was at St. Thomas Aquinas (Hammond, LA) as their offensive line and strength and conditioning coach. He coached there from 1998-2004. Bordelon did a fine job in this capacity and gained the attention of other area high schools. In fact, according to thefreelibrary.com, Corey Bordelon was a 2003 recipient of AFLAC's National Assistant Coach of the Year Award. Then in 2005, Bordelon accepted the head coaching position at Archbishop Hannan High School (Meraux, LA.) It was a fateful decision as an impending disaster soon struck that nobody could have foreseen.

On August 29, 2005, as high schools were preparing for the start of football season, Category 4 Hurricane Katrina slammed into southeast Louisiana. The city of Meraux was directly hit by the storm and the 2005 football season was canceled at Hannan High School. But Bordelon stayed at Hannan and pledged to help rebuild the school's football program. According to Trey Iles of nola.com, Archbishop Hannan, with only 18 players on their roster, went 3-4 in 2006.

From there, Bordelon became the offensive line coach at Jesuit High School (New Orleans, LA) and coached there for two years. But Corey Bordelon missed the challenge of being a head coach and was ready to lead a high school football program once again. In 2009, Bordelon applied for and was hired as head coach of De La Salle High School (New Orleans, LA.)

Another Challenge for Corey Bordelon at De La Salle

In 2009, De La Salle's varsity football roster consisted of 25 players. As with Hannan, De La Salle is a coeducational institution and only half of its students are male. This always makes fielding a large roster a challenge. But Bordelon used his background in strength and conditioning to make sure those players would be able to withstand 48 minutes of football with few substitutions and many having to play offense and defense.

The 2009 De La Salle season got off to rousing start with a solid 27-7 victory over Ascension Episcopal (Lafayette, LA) in the jamboree game. From there, De La Salle's lack of depth took its toll on the young squad. But Corey Bordelon eventually coached De La Salle to a 32-14 victory over district foe Ben Franklin (New Orleans, LA.) But none of the players quit through the tough times, which showed Bordelon the type of character and commitment his players have at De La Salle.

Outlook for 2010

Although De La Salle's 2010 roster is still relatively small, they do have many more players than the previous year and a great deal more experience. Look for Corey Bordelon to have 10-15 more players than in 2009. And with only five seniors graduating from last year's team, De La Salle's squad is definitely battle-tested. In 2010, depth will likely still be a factor for De La Salle in close games. But Bordelon's players will be well-conditioned for their 10-game season. Look for De La Salle to be very competitive in its district and contend for one of the 32 spots in the Louisiana 3A State Playoffs.

Sources

"AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year Award," thefreelibrary.com

Trey Iles, "De La Salle Names Corey Bordelon Head Football Coach," nola.com

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