University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Charles Lancon - Louisiana Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2019
11/1/2019 1:55:00 PM | Athletics
Lancon was honored as the Sun Belt’s Coach of the Year 14 times
LAFAYETTE - Charles Lancon had already put together a hugely successful three-decade coaching career in the high school ranks, and could have easily continued as Acadiana's most successful prep track and field coach.
But his alma mater needed him in the worst way when he took over the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns program prior to the 1990 season.
"Both the men's and women's track program were in disarray," said Tommy Badon, a former Cajun football player who joined Lancon as an assistant coach for most of his 14 seasons in that role. "It wasn't long before he turned things around."
Turnaround is not nearly a strong-enough word. Under the quiet and low-key Lancon, Louisiana's program became the standard by which Sun Belt Conference programs are judged.
In his third year, the Cajuns were a runaway winner in both the 1991 American South Conference men's and women's championship, snapping a streak of 21 years of no conference titles. But it was a year later, when Louisiana joined the revamped Sun Belt Conference, that Lancon and the Cajuns truly made their mark.
Before his untimely death from a heart attack in April of 2002, in the heart of the 2002 outdoor season, Lancon's teams won 17 conference titles in track and field and cross country, including the rare "Quadruple Crown" in 1993 when both the men's and women's teams won the Sun Belt Conference indoor and outdoor titles.
The Cajun men won a combined 11 titles in indoor and outdoor competition during Lancon's career, while the women's squad won three indoor and outdoor crowns not long after the program was founded in 1986.
It's little wonder that Lancon was honored as the Sun Belt's Coach of the Year 14 times, and was selected as Louisiana's Coach of the Year by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association seven times in a 10-year period.
More importantly, Lancon's teams reached that successful plateau while serving as a model program for both the rest of the department and for track programs nationwide.
"His teams always represented USL and UL with pride and dignity," Badon said. "His athletes never got in trouble, never created problems and were always among the leaders in grade-point average. A lot of that was because his athletes knew how much he loved the school and how much he fought for his program."
"Charles Lancon led the track team to tremendous accomplishments as a team and individually," said former athletic director Nelson Schexnayder, "But he was also a leader in the personal development of his student-athletes."
A former two-year Cajun football letterman and a 1959 graduate, Lancon was head track and assistant football coach at Northside High (1959-68) and Lafayette High (1968-90), and twice during his Mighty Lion stint he was chosen as national High School Coach of the Year in District V along with 16 district titles and five state Coach of the Year honors.
But what he did for the Cajun program was even more impressive. Lancon coached more than two dozen NCAA All-Americans including one national champion when Ndabe Mdhlongwa won the 1995 men's triple jump title (he later won the World Championship in that event for Zimbabwe).
It's little wonder that in 2005 the Sun Belt honored him as the league's All-Time Coach for indoor track and field in both the men's and women's divisions during the league's 30-year anniversary celebration.
Ten of his athletes have been honored with induction into the University's Athletics Hall of Fame, and this week Lancon joins that group. He will be honored posthumously as part of this year's Louisiana Athletics Hall of Fame group during Homecoming activities. Induction ceremonies are at 6 p.m. Friday at the Stadium Club at Russo Park, and the honorees will also be recognized during halftime of Saturday's 4 p.m. Homecoming football game against Texas State.
"Nobody ever deserved this more," Badon said. "He was not only a great coach but an even better man, a good husband, father, friend and boss. His death affected all of us, but he died doing what he loved the best – coaching the Cajuns."
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But his alma mater needed him in the worst way when he took over the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns program prior to the 1990 season.
"Both the men's and women's track program were in disarray," said Tommy Badon, a former Cajun football player who joined Lancon as an assistant coach for most of his 14 seasons in that role. "It wasn't long before he turned things around."
Turnaround is not nearly a strong-enough word. Under the quiet and low-key Lancon, Louisiana's program became the standard by which Sun Belt Conference programs are judged.
In his third year, the Cajuns were a runaway winner in both the 1991 American South Conference men's and women's championship, snapping a streak of 21 years of no conference titles. But it was a year later, when Louisiana joined the revamped Sun Belt Conference, that Lancon and the Cajuns truly made their mark.
Before his untimely death from a heart attack in April of 2002, in the heart of the 2002 outdoor season, Lancon's teams won 17 conference titles in track and field and cross country, including the rare "Quadruple Crown" in 1993 when both the men's and women's teams won the Sun Belt Conference indoor and outdoor titles.
The Cajun men won a combined 11 titles in indoor and outdoor competition during Lancon's career, while the women's squad won three indoor and outdoor crowns not long after the program was founded in 1986.
It's little wonder that Lancon was honored as the Sun Belt's Coach of the Year 14 times, and was selected as Louisiana's Coach of the Year by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association seven times in a 10-year period.
More importantly, Lancon's teams reached that successful plateau while serving as a model program for both the rest of the department and for track programs nationwide.
"His teams always represented USL and UL with pride and dignity," Badon said. "His athletes never got in trouble, never created problems and were always among the leaders in grade-point average. A lot of that was because his athletes knew how much he loved the school and how much he fought for his program."
"Charles Lancon led the track team to tremendous accomplishments as a team and individually," said former athletic director Nelson Schexnayder, "But he was also a leader in the personal development of his student-athletes."
A former two-year Cajun football letterman and a 1959 graduate, Lancon was head track and assistant football coach at Northside High (1959-68) and Lafayette High (1968-90), and twice during his Mighty Lion stint he was chosen as national High School Coach of the Year in District V along with 16 district titles and five state Coach of the Year honors.
But what he did for the Cajun program was even more impressive. Lancon coached more than two dozen NCAA All-Americans including one national champion when Ndabe Mdhlongwa won the 1995 men's triple jump title (he later won the World Championship in that event for Zimbabwe).
It's little wonder that in 2005 the Sun Belt honored him as the league's All-Time Coach for indoor track and field in both the men's and women's divisions during the league's 30-year anniversary celebration.
Ten of his athletes have been honored with induction into the University's Athletics Hall of Fame, and this week Lancon joins that group. He will be honored posthumously as part of this year's Louisiana Athletics Hall of Fame group during Homecoming activities. Induction ceremonies are at 6 p.m. Friday at the Stadium Club at Russo Park, and the honorees will also be recognized during halftime of Saturday's 4 p.m. Homecoming football game against Texas State.
"Nobody ever deserved this more," Badon said. "He was not only a great coach but an even better man, a good husband, father, friend and boss. His death affected all of us, but he died doing what he loved the best – coaching the Cajuns."
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