9. De La Salle's Bob Ladouceur steps down 
De La Salle football coach Bob Ladouceur stepped down at the top of his game after the storied school's first 15-0 season.
File photo by Dennis Lee
Two
weeks after his team finished 15-0 for the first time in his
illustrious career, and three months before production started on a
Hollywood movie about the program he basically started, Hall of Fame
football coach Bob Ladouceur announced that he was stepping down has
head coach at
De La Salle (Concord, Calif.).
Bob Ladouceur at his final press conference.
Photo by Dennis Lee
At 58, Ladouceur said simply, "It's the right time to go."
Fitting,
because among the many traits that led Ladouceur to an unprecedented
coaching career was timing. His assistants say that he seemed to call
just the right play at just the right moment.
Turns out, he was
also speaking about his replacement, 33-year-old Justin Alumbaugh, a
former player who Ladouceur picked out 15 years ago.
"I would
probably still be coaching if I didn't have the perfect guy to take
over," Ladouceur said. "It was more important for me that the program
stay strong than for me to hang on a few more years to coach.
"I leave absolutely with no regret. ... I'm forever grateful. It's better than I could ever wish for."
Ladouceur
told a gathering of students, coaches, former and current players,
fellow teachers and media on campus that after 34 seasons and 399 career
wins (against 25 losses and three ties) he was ready for a break from
the rigors of head coaching. He'll still coach running backs and with
numerous key players back, De La Salle is
No. 1 in the 2013 MaxPreps preseason Xcellent 25 rankings.
He leaves a legacy that is
unmatched in California and perhaps the country. His teams have won at
least eight mythical national titles, including the 2012 team that
finished No. 1 in the MaxPreps computer rankings, and from 1993 to 2004
it won a national record 151 games in a row, at that time more than
doubling the previous mark.
His winning percentage of 93.7 is the
best in the country. Leaving one win short of 400 was indicative of his
selfless nature and his attitude toward records and numbers.
"I
understand the number (399) has some kind of weirdness to it. Maybe way
down the road they'll think I died midseason," Ladouceur joked.
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