Louisiana Removes Interim Tag, Names Badon Head Track & Field Coach

LAFAYETTE, Louisiana - Long-time assistant and Louisiana alum Tommy Badon has been named the head coach of the Louisiana track and field program, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Bryan Maggard announced Monday.

Badon becomes the eighth head coach since the program became Division I after serving as the interim head coach since Lon Badeaux's retirement in November. During his time as the interim head coach, Badon led the men's team to a third-place finish at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships while mentoring two Sun Belt champions.

"Since Tommy Badon's return to UL Track and Field, we have seen tremendous progress within our performance, both at the conference and national levels," Maggard said. "He is highly regarded by his coaching peers across the country and has built tremendous rapport and respect with our student-athletes and staff. I am very excited about the future of our Track and Field program under Tommy's leadership and congratulate both him and Susan."

"I want to first thank Dr. Maggard and Dr. (Jessica) Leger for entrusting this program to someone whose dream has been to sit in this office one day," Badon said. "As a life-long Cajun, a graduate, a former athlete, and someone who loves this school and this program, I can't tell you how excited I am right now. Sometimes dreams do come true. And this is one of those times. We have an incredible staff, great kids, an incredible culture, and we have built a program over the past five years that people around the country within the track and field community have taken notice of. Everywhere I go other coaches are extremely complementary of the kind of program we have here. That is a testimony to the coaching staff and the athletes who are leaving a legacy and a standard for the next generation to live up to. We have a long and storied track and field tradition.

"The Cajun Way is real and it is our intention to continue to grow the program and to make our alumni and supporters proud to be associated with UL Track and Field. We will continue to work daily to help our athletes get degrees, achieve a high level of athletic success and involve themselves in community activities. I tell the team all the time, 'The best is yet to come.'"

Badon, a 1981 graduate of then-USL, has been an assistant for the Ragin' Cajuns since 2018. During his second stint with the Cajuns, Badon has primarily worked with the sprinters over the last six seasons. Louisiana has rewritten the record books in that time. The indoor sprint events have seen 21 program top-five scores and four records fall, including relay events.

Last year the men's 4x100-meter relay capped off a sensational year with a trip to the NCAA National Championship where they broke a 51-year-old school record with a time of 39.18 seconds. In outdoor, the program has seen 14 top-five scores be set under Badon's watch.

Badon first served as an assistant coach at Louisiana under legendary head coach Charles Lancon from 1989-97. During that stint, the Ragin' Cajuns claimed 14 indoor and outdoor individual championships and produced 27 NCAA All-Americans. He coached Hollis Conway, a two-time Olympic medalist, former USA record-holder, and former NCAA National Champion, in the high jump. In 1993, his relay teams ranked third in the nation.

In his time with the Cajuns, Badon also helped coach Ndaba Mdhlongwa, who competed in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympic Games for Zimbabwe, as well as eventual UL Hall of Fame members Neal Guidry, Larry Moore, Grady Labbe, Winston Sinclair, Keisha Ray Owens, Twilight Malcolm, Beverly Langley, and Jojo Harris.

A decorated coach at the high school level, Badon was the head track and field coach and an assistant football coach at Lafayette Christian Academy before returning to Louisiana. During his tenure, he led LCA to a combined eight district track titles, including the 2018 Girls' Class 1A State Title in track and the 2017 LHSAA Division IV State Championship in football.

Prior to LCA, Badon spent 12 years at Westminster Christian Academy. There he went 90-41 as head football coach, appearing in five state quarterfinals with 11 straight playoff appearances. His track and field girls won 10 straight district titles, four regional championships, and the 2013 Class 1A State Championship. His boys' teams captured five district titles and two regional titles. For his efforts he was named the Class 1A Coach of the Year in 2013 and earned the Outstanding Coach Award at the district level 15 times.

Badon has been active in Coaching Education since 1987. He was a USATF Level I and Level II Instructor for 20 years, and has served as both a TFTC Instructor and an SCC Instructor in the USTFCCCA Coaches Education program since the inception of that program. Badon is an active member in the LTFCA, and has spoken at numerous state association conventions throughout his career, as well as presenting at the USTFCCCA Annual Convention in 2013.

Badon earned a bachelor's degree in social studies education from then USL in 1981 before receiving his master's degree in physical education from Prairie View A&M in 1989. During his undergraduate days, Badon was a student assistant in the UL Sports Information Office under LSWA, CoSIDA, and UL Hall of Fame member Dan McDonald.

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University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Louisiana Removes Interim Tag, Names Badon Head Track & Field Coach

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