Bulldogs complete their first spring under Trosclair

There was plenty of excitement at Ascension Catholic as they finished up their spring practices with a intraquad scrimmage on Monday evening. Much of that exhilaration came from first-year head coach Drey Trosclair.

Just a little more than a month removed from becoming the Bulldogs' new play-caller, Trosclair was able to get right down to business and put his young squad on the field for the first time in his tenure.

"It has been really awesome, really exciting. The kids have made it that way. I have to give the credit to those guys because they've handled everything I've thrown at them really well," Trosclair said. "They made it easy on me as a first-year head coach to go through my first spring. We had a really fun spring."

It wasn't that long ago when Trosclair was taking part in spring practice as a player. The 25-year-old was playing at Nicholls State just three years ago.

In his first year of coaching, he was an assistant at Ascension Catholic under Doug Moreau. He then made a coaching stop at Vandebilt Catholic before Moreau decided it was time to walk away.

With his retirement, Ascension Catholic decided that the young and energetic Trosclair was just the right man to succeed him.

Though Trosclair hasn't been there very long, he is thrilled with how quickly his players have bought in to his new approach.

"I'm excited. The guys are really willing to learn. They're really coachable kids," Trosclair said. "You tell them one thing, and they make that correction on the next rep. These guys are wanting to get better and the most important thing to me is that they're really buying in to the program."

Trosclair will certainly have his work cut out for him in his first year. He takes over a Bulldog team that is coming off of an 8-3 season, but they've lost many of the starters from that team.

Some of these losses include running backs James Martin, Jacquel Martin and running back and linebacker Patrick Butler. Most notably, they lose a beast on the defensive line in Delmond Landry.

Coach Trosclair thinks that what they lack in experience, his new team makes up for in toughness.

"I think we're going to be a tough football team. These guys, they're willing to work really hard, and I'm excited about that," Trosclair said. "Anything you ask them to do and any challenge you present to them, they really respond to it and they do what you ask them to do. I think they're going to be a hard-nosed football team and a hard-working football team."

Some of the best players the Bulldogs return are: quarterback D.C. Mattingly, linebackers Cole Amedee and Landon Landry and defensive back Kebori Hunter.

Because of baseball and track, many of Ascension Catholic's veteran players had to miss much of the spring, but Trosclair thinks that it was a blessing in disguise. Their absence helped his younger guys get more looks.

"I think, as a whole, we've become better. We got better as a group. We have a really young group," Trosclair said. "The baseball team made a long run in the playoffs, so we didn't have a lot of those guys, also some guys from track.

"So, for the first week and a half, it was mostly young guys, with a few older guys sprinkled in. We were able to develop those younger guys and spend some individual time with them and get them a lot of reps."

Trosclair was very happy with how his young Bulldog squad looked during his first spring as their head coach, but he knows that there is still plenty of work to be done this summer before the season officially begins.

"Our summer weight-lifting program is huge for us. We have some younger guys, so if we can improve their strength and their agility and improve them athletically, we'll turn good athletes into even better athletes," Trosclair said. "I really look forward to seeing them get after it over the summer."