Ernie Duplechin, former McNeese State football coach, dies at 88

Ernie Duplechin was a familiar figure in St. Landry and Evangeline parish high schools for over four decades, as the former McNeese State football coach successfully recruited many small town area players who eventually became legends at the Lake Charles university.

Duplechin died Thursday. He was 88.

He was remembered by several former players as a master motivator and tactician whose teams recorded the best winning percentage of any Southland Conference football coach.

“What (Duplechin) did best was communicate. He simplified things so you were well-prepared and could do your job on the field, That allowed him to be such a great leader,” said Opelousas Catholic athletic director Tommy Tate, who played defensive back on Duplechin’s 5-3 defenses and later coached the McNeese secondary when Duplechin became head coach.

“(Duplechin) had a knack for getting the best out of you. With his methods, you were able to play with confidence. He was a positive type of guy and you always went out there with the attitude that you could accomplish whatever he said you could do,” said Tate, who eventually became the McNeese head coach.

Sunset native Rusty Guilbeau, who was drafted by the New York Jets and played in the NFL for several seasons as a defensive lineman, said Duplechin expertly managed to recruit players that other colleges overlooked and then developed his players into all-conference performers.

“Coach Duplechin was one of those down to earth guys, who while he was recruiting, took chances on players that other teams didn’t want to sign. He took the guys from this area in addition to New Orleans, Beaumont and Baton Rouge and gave them an opportunity when no one else would.

“The fact that no one wanted to recruit some of us, just made us play harder (for McNeese) and for him. I think (Duplechin) thought that those types of players had a point to prove and so did he since he recruited them,” Guilbeau said.

Tate, a Port Barre native who walked on at McNeese in 1974, said Duplechin developed a penchant for finding qualities in his recruits that other college recruiters possibly overlooked.

“He was just an amazing recruiter. He knew the schools and the coaches very well in this area and somehow he saw something in the small town players who he perceived as diamonds in the rough. A lot of players (at McNeese) were from the Acadiana area and somehow he was able to project what you could do and what you were able to become,” Tate said.

Duplechin also recruited Keith Ortego and Harry Price from Eunice High, Tony Citizen from Church Point, Vance Robichaux and Butch Aslandor from Opelousas Catholic, Doug Fruge from Port Barre and Robert Davenport and Rick Ortego from Sacred Heart-Ville Platte.

Keith Ortego and Harry Price were also drafted by NFL teams.

Duplechin’s entire 11-year high school coaching career was rooted in small town football programs.

He began a coaching career as a Ville Platte High and Eunice High assistant (1955). Duplechin later went to Basile where he was an assistant (1957-60) and then Basile coach from 1961-64.

In 1966 Duplechin became a full-time McNeese assistant. After Jack Doland retired, Duplechin became the head coach from 1979-81, guiding the Cowboys to a 28-6-1 overall record and three SLC championships.

Duplechin was also McNeese athletic director from 1981-85.

Duplechin, who played several sports at Louisiana College, celebrated his 68th wedding anniversary on Dec. 20 with his wife, Dolores.

Funeral services will be held Monday at North Venue-Trinity Baptist Church beginning at 2:30 p.m. in Lake Charles. Visitation will be held starting at 12:30 p.m.