MaxPreps 2012-13 Boys Coach of the Year: Bob Ladouceur

It's one thing to step down while you're at the top. It's another to step down just at the right time for the good of the program.

That is what De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) football coach Bob Ladouceur did and largely why he was selected as the 2012-13 MaxPreps Boys Coach of the Year.

The 58-year-old had just completed his first 15-0 season to run his astounding record to 399-25-3, the top winning percentage (.938) in the country's history for coaches with more than 200 wins.

See a slideshow of Bob Ladouceur over the years

He led a team that had lost three-year starting quarterback Bart Houston to graduation as well All-American linebacker Michael Barton, but guided the Spartans to a fourth-straight California Open Division championship and No. 4 finish in the final MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Rankings.

De La Salle was No. 1 in the MaxPreps computer rankings.

It was De La Salle's 27th perfect season since Ladouceur took over in 1979. He left with more perfect seasons than losses.

"I like the way this group hung in there," he said after defeating nationally ranked Centennial (Corona, Calif.) 48-28 in the Open Division finals at the Home Depot Center. "We made a lot of mistakes early in the season, a lot of turnovers. ... But we showed improvement. We played our best football the last five games. That's what we train for."

Ladouceur had intimated he might step down and three weeks later he did, naming 13-year line coach Justin Alumbaugh as his successor. Alumbaugh played for Ladouceur and had been basically hand-picked for the job whenever the Hall of Fame coach was ready to hang it up.

Ladouceur will remain on staff as the team's running backs coach in 2013.

"I would probably still be coaching if I didn't have the perfect guy to take over," Ladouceur said at a press conference on Jan. 4. "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."

Bob Ladouceur by the numbers

Ladouceur beat out a list a mile long of fantastic coaches worthy of strong consideration. Among them: 

* Kevin Boyle has long been considered one of the best boys basketball coaches in the country and was close on many occasions to leading St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) to mythical national crowns. At long last, after moving to Montverde Academy (Fla.), Boyle finished on top as the Eagles used a dramatic three-day run at the National High School Invitational to vault past three teams and earn the No. 1 ranking in the final MaxPreps Academy Top 10.

* Any other year, J.T. Curtis, who ranks second nationally in most football wins, would have been the hands-down winner for the Coach of the Year honor. His Curtis (River Ridge, La.) team finished 14-0 and No. 1 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Football Rankings. The Patriots absolutely demolished opponents, outscoring foes 677-60. Though they didn't play one of the nation's toughest schedules, they did take care of Florida defending 8A champion Plant 33-3 in September. J.T. Curtis has won 520 games in his 43-year career, second only to John McKissick's total of 601 at Summerville (S.C.).

* MaxPreps Boys Basketball Coach of the Year Quincy Lewis of Lone Peak (Highland, Utah) led his team to an unlikely mythical national championship and dominating 26-1 season. Lone Peak was the first Utah team to ever win a MaxPreps national championship in any sport.

* MaxPreps Baseball Coach of the Year Richard LaBounty led Pensacola Catholic (Fla.) to an undefeated season (30-0) and the No. 1 ranking in the Xcellent 25 rankings. The Crusader team has been called by the Pensacola News-Journal as "the greatest prep team in Pensacola area history."