Turning on the AC: Broussard returns to high school ranks with big challenge
Former Burbank High football coach Richard Broussard says he’s insane.
What interests me, however, is if the 2016 All-Area Football Coach of the Year is crazy like a fox as he returns to the high school football ranks.
Amid the area build-up for Friday’s CIF Southern Section Division III Championship involving St. Francis, Broussard made his own headlines.
On Nov. 29, the former Missouri Valley College running back was named Sun Valley Village Christian School’s Director of Football.
When asked about his shiny new designation, the good-natured and fiery Broussard chuckled.
“I’m the director for football for the middle school and high school, so it’s basically the same thing as being the head coach of Burbank and being in charge of varsity and junior varsity teams,” Broussard said. “It’s a fancy title for being the head coach.”
Thirteen months after tendering his resignation amid a historic playoff run, Broussard is back in the high school game.
The last time he was on the sidelines, Burbank lost to Yorba Linda, 31-21, in a windy mess in Orange County at the CIF Southern Section Division VIII Championship on Dec. 2, 2016.
The loss concluded the most historic season in program history as the Bulldogs advanced to the team’s first championship.
There were rumors that Broussard didn’t receive the backing he felt deserved, rumors he put to bed.
“My time at Burbank was great,” Broussard said. “They let me do what I needed to do to take the team to a championship game. I thought that it was time for me to move on.”
Broussard moved on to Pasadena City College where he spent the past season as the running backs coach.
Pasadena (5-5) enjoyed its best season since 2009, while the Lancers’ ground game finished third the American Metro League after averaging 120.6 rushing yards per contest.
Even with that success, it could be argued if a move from the high school to community college ranks is even upward, if not lateral.
Yet, there was a method to the madness.
“PCC was awesome and I learned a lot about the game,” Broussard said. “[Pasadena] coach [Tom] Maher, he always said you come to JUCO to get a better job and I was like, ‘What? I was just coming to JUCO to literally be a sponge and learn some more football’ and then this opportunity presented itself, so I listened.”
Prior to Pasadena, Broussard finished 24-13 in three seasons at Burbank with a 16-5 mark within the Pacific League for three straight playoff appearances and a postseason record of 4-3 with two quarterfinal appearances.
Broussard had been with the Bulldogs program as an assistant since 2008 and is a part of coaching pipeline that included success under his predecessor (Hector Valencia) and successor (Adam Colman).
That’s just one of the big differences between Burbank and Village Christian.
To add another, while the Bulldogs were busy winning their first league title since 2009 this past season, the Crusaders didn’t have enough players to field a varsity team.
When asked if his hiring could have the potential to bring about unrealistic expectations, Broussard answered with a twist.
“I don’t care about people’s expectations; I have my own set of expectations,” Broussard said. “Those are the things that need to be tempered because I’m insane. I want to do things better than they’ve ever been done before, I want to be better prepared than any team that has ever set foot on the field.”
Broussard is set to meet his team Monday and evaluations will be made soon after as to whether Village Christian will be able to field a varsity or junior varsity team.
While the job of resurrecting a football program seems difficult, Broussard has a plan.
“It’s crazy to start from scratch, but it’s an interesting situation because the school does have a middle school program,” Broussard said. “So, a lot of my efforts will be going toward building the middle school program up into what we built our freshman program over at Burbank.
“We have the infrastructure at Village to do that, which is awesome.”
Whether or not Village Christian plays varsity in 2018 or 2019, Broussard brings excitement to a program, which is at least one step in the rebuilding process.
“I want to create a system where people want to come play,” Broussard said. “That’s what I envision at Village.”
