Alan Carter named as new Loyola football coach

Carter, 58, began his coaching career at Jesuit (now Loyola) as an assistant in 1977 and was head coach in the 1982 and 1983 seasons with an overall record of 11-9.

He has also served as head coach at Parkway and Byrd and comes back to Loyola after serving as Athletic Director for Caddo Parish Schools for nine years.

"It's an opportunity to do what I love the most and that is coaching," Carter said. "After being in administration (he also served as an assistant principal at Byrd), this is how I want to finish my career. I love what the school is about. The mission is about academics, but Loyola has always had a great athletic program and I look forward to being a part of it again."

"Coach Carter brings to the table a rare combination of experience, winning records, and a clear understanding of the mission of our school," said Loyola Principal Frank Israel. "We are excited to have such a man return to Loyola."

Carter is no stranger to building strong football programs. At Parkway, he took over a program that had never won a district title or a playoff game and did both during his three years with the Panthers. Parkway was 7-4 in the 1987 season and then went 9-1 and won the district title in 1988 and won the first playoff game in school history. The Panthers were 10-2 overall.

At Byrd (1990-97), he took over a program that was coming off a total of three wins in the previous two seasons, had only won four district wins in seven years and was only a few years removed from a 27-game losing streak.  Byrd had not had a winning season in nine years and hadn't been to the playoffs for 18 years.

Carter quickly turned things around as the Yellow Jackets had undefeated regular seasons in 1993 and 1996, had four seasons of at least eight wins and won three district titles in his eight years. Carter was 51-33 during his career at Byrd and made four playoff appearances.

After starring at Winnfield High, he was a three-year letterman at McNeese State (1974-76) and began his career as a defensive coach at Jesuit under Anthony Catanese in the 1977 season. He was an assistant when the Flyers reached the state semifinals in 1978. He later became defensive coordinator in 1980 and head coach when Catanese retired following the 1981 season.

Other notes:

Carter becomes the third Flyer head coach to serve a second term (Tim Moran and John LeBlanc are the others).

Every head football coach hired since 1970 has previously served as a Flyer assistant at some point during their coaching careers.

When the Flyers open the 2013 season against Cedar Creek, he will be the oldest head coach in school history. (John Thompson was 56 when led the Flyers in the 1984 season.) Interestingly, Carter was one of the youngest coaches (27) in school history when he took over in 1982 (Catanese was 26 in 1975).

Comments