Discover Lafayette Michael Desormeaux, UL – Lafayette Head Football Coach
We welcome UL – Lafayette Football Head Coach Michael Desormeaux, a graduate of Catholic High in New Iberia and standout UL Lafayette quarterback, who became the eighth quarterback in NCAA history to post back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
He joined the UL coaching staff in 2016, helping lead the Ragin’ Cajuns to four consecutive Sunbelt West Division titles and their first outright Sunbelt Championship before being named head coach.
Joining us to guide the conversation is John Bordelon, a 1977 graduate of USL, former football player, and current President and CEO of Home Bank. John has worked with Home Bank for over 44 years and loves beng a part of this community along with his wife, Suzanne. Jan Swift, the host of Discover Lafayette, knew she needed a football voice on this episode.
Coach Desormeaux reflected on growing up in New Iberia: “New Iberia was a really good place to grow up. Catholic High has been great for us… my whole family’s life revolved around sports and chasing kids around and watching them play. We grew up in ballparks.”
“When we were young, our whole life revolved around sports and we grew up in ballparks. Catholic High in New Iberia was a cool place because we went from football to basketball to baseball. When I got to middle school, I started track. Our coaches made it easy for us to be able to do all four. For me, it was just part of the way that we did it. My parents expected us to do well in school. They expected us to play sports. was really just what I grew up doing. I realized after the fact how unique it was to be able to do all four sports in high school. I was always grateful for that.”
Coach Desormeaux shared how recruiting has changed dramatically since his high school years: “When I was coming out, I didn’t hear from UL or other colleges. or meet anyone on the staff, until probably week five of my senior high school year season. They came and watched us play… I had a really good game, and the next week they called back and offered me a scholarship. That was the beginning of my recruiting.”
John Bordelon shared how relationships drew him to UL: “My brother was seven years older and came to USL to play football, and I fell in love with the people… my heart was set on being part of this community.”
An injury in high school changed John Bordelon’s recruitment experience: “My senior year, I actually had an injury, so I missed five ball games… LSU, Tulane, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss dropped me. One of my coaches from high school played at UL and helped me get an interview, and they offered me a scholarship.”
Reflecting on how UL shaped his life, Coach Desormeaux noted: “Coaches have always been people I really admired. My dad was my first coach. When I got to Catholic High, Coach David Comeaux got the head job, and I saw the impact he had on our school.” Coach Des’s experience with three different offensive coordinators while playing at UL turned out to be a blessing: “At the time, we had several coaching turnorvers, and it wasn’t what I expected. But I got to learn three different systems and three different offenses… the coaching experience was really good for me.”
“I’d love to tell you that I’ve created anything. But football coaches are thieves. I mean, we just take things from different people and make it our own. The whole journey and all these coaches are people that I’ve always admired. I tell our staff all the time, if you got into coaching for anything other than to help kids and for anything other than to help them achieve their goals, you’re in the wrong place.”
Coach Des spoke honestly about the challenges of NIL and the transfer portal: “We believe in building relationships… I wish it wasn’t personal to me when they leave, but it is. You spend so much time with them. The NIL combined with the portal, that’s where most people’s frustration comes from… but we double down on relationships.”
“We still prefer to sign high school kids because you can build meaningful relationships with them. You get to recruit their families. They choose to come here because they see the value of living in Lafayette and getting a UL education….a big part of what I have to do now is build relationships with these kids where it’s not just about money, it’s about being in a place where they’re being taking care of. We have 20 seniors again this year. That means that we’re doing a great job in retention. That’s the name of the game for us, keeping the bulk of our roster. Fortunately we’ve been able to do that.”
Coach noted: “We’ve been able to keep 95% of the ones we want, which is the key.”
John Bordelon, CEO of Home Bank, recalled how different it was during his footbll era in the 1970s: “We had to sit out a year if we transferred, and looking back, I really appreciate that rule. The same nucleus of our team that didn’t win a game in 1973 came back to have the winningest record in school history at 9-2. We may not have if we had the opportunity to leave.”
Both men discussed injuries and the toughness of football. John Bordelon shared a story about injuring himself by stepping into his helmet while playing “fudge” with a roommate, while Coach Desormeaux listed several injuries, including a separated sternum and torn ACLs, noting: “That’s just kind of par for the course.”
Discussing the upcoming season, Coach Des emphasized the value of continuity: “We have a ton of returning experience this year… our staff did a great job last year, and we feel really good about the production we have coming back.”
He highlighted the team’s speed this season: “At receiver, this will be the fastest group we’ve ever had… adding Shelton Sampson was a huge get for us.”
On quarterback Walker Howard being on Ul Lafayette’s team, Coach Des shared: “Everyone in Lafayette asks about Walker. He’s right in the middle of it, competing really well, and had a great spring.”
Discussing leadership on the team, Coach Desormeaux said: “The key is finding guys that love to compete and love to play. It’s about people, not just positions. There’s a lot of things that go into building chemistry. I think chemistry and leadership and belief in each other matters in team sports. It’s not just about having talent. It’s about having those things along with enough talent.”
John Bordelon and Coach Desormeaux discussed team-building despite athletes living off campus, with Coach Des describing the teams they draft in the summer: “We challenge them to do things together, do community service, and get extra work. We try to create teams within the team to make them interact with others that they normally wouldn’t. We tell them, ‘You’re never too young to start leading. Add value to this team now.”
On the game’s evolution, Coach Des noted: “The game changes constantly… offenses evolve, defenses chase them, and then offenses come back around to older concepts.”
He discussed the new coach-to-player communication through helmet headsets: “It allows us to be more detailed in the run game… it’s a good thing, and it’s helped with the signal-stealing issues.”
John Bordelon noted the correlation between sports discipline and business leadership: “Athletics carry it into the business world. You need people looking to correct themselves and improve every single day.”
When asked by Jan Swift how do athletes cope with wins and losses, Coach Desormeaux reinforced that the urgency and discipline learned through sports translates into life: “We work on a different timeline than most people… there’s never enough time, so you’re always trying to maximize the time you have.”
The discussion closed on how building a successful program requires focusing on people: Coach Desormeaux said, “There’s a saying: ‘It’s not about the ones (players) you don’t get. It’s about the ones you do get. Just make sure the one that we sign is the right one.’”