West St. John's Dupont set to retire Saturday

But don’t ask him about his emotions of the subject. It’s the one question he can’t answer, though he has though about himself many times.

“Mixed, I’ve got to be honest,” Dupont said. “Exactly how I’m going to feel when it’s all said and done, I can’t tell you. It’s the question I’m asking myself. I don’t know.

“I’m actually finishing a chapter in part of my life. I don’t know what the expectations are going to be.”

Dupont is in his 35th year overall of coaching, including 12 as an assistant at Donaldsonville Junior High, E.D. White, Terrebonne, Thibodaux and West St. John.

He spent five years as the head coach at Thibodaux High while the past 18 years have been at West St. John.

Successful might not be a strong enough word to describe what Dupont has done in coaching. He is 208-86 going into Saturday’s finals. As a head coach, he is 182-61, including an impressive 52-14 mark in the postseason.

His teams have gone undefeated in district 10 times on their way to winning 11 district championships.

His teams have won three state titles in five championship game berths, and can make it four in six attempts.

The ball got rolling for retirement nearly three years ago. With more than 30 years in the state retirement system, he thought about doing it after 2004. But two of his years were at E.D. White, a Catholic school in Thibodaux.

“I decided to go at least two more years, and decided to stay three,” Dupont said. “That’s a total of 35 years, which is a good career. I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished. It has been a great feeling, a great reward.”

This year might be one of Dupont’s top coaching jobs. His team started off 0-5, losing by an average of 21 points to St. James (a 2A finalist), Patterson (a 3A semifinalist), Franklinton (a 4A quarterfinalist), Riverside and St. Charles (a 3A second-round team).

But it was in that St. Charles 21-12 loss on Sept. 28 that Dupont saw things turning around. Though the team dropped its fifth-straight game, Dupont said he said unity and effort that wasn’t necessarily noticeable the first couple of weeks.

“We left St. Charles and felt really good about our team coming together even though we got beat by a touchdown,” Dupont said. “We haven’t missed a beat since. WE gave them a little praise and weren’t disappointed by the score.”

The way this team battled back in tough times without any standouts is what makes this year special, Dupont said.

“So special because we have no superstars,” he said.

He added, “There’s really one college prospect in Blake Comminie. We are not a statistical team, and that’s what makes it feel so good – starting off 0-5 and getting back into the game with no superstars.”