MAMOU — Mamou head football coach LaQuintin Lamb has resigned, citing daily challenges tied to limited resources and a need to temporarily step away from the game.
Lamb said he will step away from coaching for the spring semester and work away from sidelines. He hopes to return in the fall if the right opportunity presents itself.
“It’s hard right now. I don’t want to do this,” Lamb said. “But the way I know how to do it, I know it’s not being done that way. I’ll never disrespect the game like that.”
Lamb took over a Mamou program facing steep obstacles. According to Lamb, the school is the only one in the parish without a track, has an approximately 800-square-foot weight room and limited athletic facilities overall.
Lamb also stated that his program wasn't able to participate in off-season workouts due to the lack of an athletic period during school hours. In season, Lamb served as the school’s only athletic physical education coach.
“It was a battle,” Lamb said.
Despite those challenges, Lamb helped rebuild the program’s foundation. Mamou finished with 65 players on the roster in his first season, a notable number for a program that has struggled with depth in recent years. The Demons compiled a 7-13 record under Lamb's tutelage.
Six of those 20 games were one score outcomes, a reflection, Lamb said, of the team’s competitiveness despite being counted as a win on opponents’ schedules.
“They count Mamou as a win,” Lamb said. “But we were in games.”
Lamb also helped improve what resources were available, assisting with the addition of new chutes and new blocking sleds during his tenure.
On the field, Mamou showed progress. The Demons saw Shay Collins, a first year football player, sign with Nicholls State in 2025. The program also expects to have three more seniors sign in February.
Lamb also helped to develop junior running back Zamaurri Brown, who is ranked as the 20th player in Louisiana according to 247Sports.
Still, Lamb said the grind eventually took a toll. He drove 47 miles each way to Mamou every day and said the accumulation of stress led to moments he felt were unfair to his players.
“I realized I was so defeated when I wasn’t correcting it,” Lamb said. “That’s when I knew something wasn’t right.”
Lamb said he was sometimes dismissed as “just a junior high coach,” a label he felt ignored both his experience and the difficulty of the situation at Mamou. Before arriving in Mamou, Lamb had been around programs at Breaux Bridge and Eunice, environments that highlighted how far behind Mamou’s infrastructure had fallen.
“Mamou is behind the times,” Lamb said. “Smallest weight room, no track, no facilities. That stuff matters.”
Lamb credited several coaches for shaping his approach, including Larry Dauterive, Paul Trosclair, Dennis Dunn, and Lewis Cook, whom he said served as mentors throughout his career.
For now, Lamb said stepping away is about preserving his love for the sport and regaining balance. As he leaves the program, he'll fondly miss the people that supported Mamou football.
"The community spoiled me," Lamb said. "I hope I was able to return some excitement back to the program."
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