Women’s Basketball – Home at last: Brodhead takes over UL women’s program

Eric Narcisse, Daily Advertiser, April 3,2012

Five years ago, Garry Brodhead embarked on a journey in search of the necessary college coaching experience his resume lacked after being turned down for the UL women’s basketball head coaching job he’s coveted as long as he can remember.

Although he was fully aware of the commitment and sacrifice required to gain that experience — such as living away from his wife, children and grandchildren — Brodhead accepted the assistant coach position with the McNeese State Cowgirls program and made the best of the commute from Lafayette.

On Monday, however, Brodhead’s commitment and desire to land the job he’s always wanted was rewarded when he was introduced as the new head women’s basketball coach of the UL Ragin’ Cajuns.

"It is a very exciting time for myself and my family," Brodhead said. "This is something we feel we’ve worked really hard to be put in this position. We’re excited about the opportunity to come in and help build this program."

Brodhead, who is the 12th head coach in the program’s history, made a name for himself during a 10-year tenure as the girls basketball coach at Teurlings Catholic, where he posted a 297-78 record, won one state championship, finished runner-up once and advanced to the state semifinals six times to go along with nine district titles.

"On behalf of the university, I’d like to welcome Garry back to Lafayette," Cajuns athletic director Scott Farmer said. "As we navigated through the search process and reviewed the qualities that we were looking for, Coach Brodhead kept rising to the top. His understanding of the game, history in coaching and passion for the university make him a tremendous fit for the position."

Brodhead, who fought back tears throughout the press conference, stated UL isn’t his dream job, but "the job" for him.

"I like to refer to this job as the "It" job,’" Brodhead said. "I was always told that you will always flourish when in you are in the right environment and this is my environment. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into a store here in Lafayette and have had someone say to me how much they’d like to see me here."

Although he said he’s thought about this staff, Brodhead stated nothing was imminent or written in stone.

"You always think about who you’d want with you," Brodhead said. "I have, but I still haven’t made any decisions. I’m actually kind of glad that I wasn’t at the Final Four, because there would have been a bunch of people looking for a job."

In five years as an assistant coach for the Cowgirls, the team compiled an overall record of 83-74, including a 52-15 record in the last two seasons which ended with trips to the NCAA Tournament.

"I’m very thankful to coach Brooks Donald-Williams for giving me an opportunity," Brodhead said. "It was always said not to hire a high school coach and she decided to go bigger and better. She has always had a lot of faith in me and has always believed in me."

Donald-Williams, who was in Denver for the Women’s Final Four where the coaching convention was taking place, was sad she wasn’t able to be present when Brodhead was introduced.

"It is a great opportunity for Garry and we certainly are sad to see him go," Donald-Williams said. "He is the best person for that job and I really can’t imagine anyone being able to do a better job than he’s going to. You can’t put a price tag on what he has meant to our program and to me personally. This is long overdue for him. I remember five years ago making a call for him and I did that because I’ve always believed in him. He’s paid his dues and put his time in, so he is ready for the next step."

Donald-Williams is confident Brodhead will not only be a tremendous asset to the university from an X’s and O’s standpoint, but also in his ability to teach and recruit.

"He is a great fit for UL," Donald-Williams said. "I know athletic directors sometimes like to search for a name or someone with more experience when the right person is right in front of them. It is no question that getting Garry was a huge win for UL and a huge loss for us at McNeese State."

Brodhead stressed to Donald-Williams this was the beginning and not the end of their journey together.

"When I talked to coach Brooks Donald-Williams (Sunday) she told me our legacy was stopping here, but I told her I disagreed," Brodhead said. "I told her our legacy was just starting here and that we were moving on in the right direction. Right now is a great time to be a part of women’s basketball in Louisiana, because there is no dominant team and we’re excited that hopefully someday we can be that dominant team."