Friday, March 24, 2006
By Pierce W. Huff
Staff writer
Courtesy of NOLA.com

Jesuit's month-long search for a head football coach ended Thursday with the hiring of Sid Edwards, who led Redemptorist to consecutive state championships in 2002 and 2003.

Edwards, 43, was the special teams and running backs coach at Baton Rouge Central this season.

"I'm extremely excited, but at the same time I'm humbled," Edwards said. "I really believe that this is the best job in the state."

Edwards has a career record of 75-25 in eight seasons, but he's most noted for the success he had during his seven-year tenure at Redemptorist from 1997-2004.

Edwards built a struggling Wolves program into a consistent winner. After leading Redemptorist to a 3-7 record in his first season, he led the Wolves to six consecutive state playoff appearances. He had a 73-17 record at the school.

Edwards led Redemptorist to the 2000 Class 3A state championship game, where it lost to Notre Dame 14-6. He led Redemptorist to a 31-19 victory against Patterson for the Class 3A state championship in 2002. In his final game at Redemptorist, he led the Wolves to a 12-7 victory against John Curtis for the 2003 Class 4A state championship.

Edwards coached the Redemptorist boys basketball team from 2002 to 2004 and led the Wolves to the Class 3A state championship in 2003.

Edwards left Redemptorist to become the head football coach at Menard High School in Alexandria, where he had a 2-8 record before leaving to become an assistant coach at Baton Rouge Central.

"He's been with successful programs, and more importantly, he's a winning person," Jesuit athletic director Frank Misuraca said.

Edwards said he hopes he can help Jesuit continue its winning tradition, and he plans to come up with schemes that fit the current talent on the Blue Jays team.

"I've always adjusted to the talent level on my teams," he said.

Edwards said he shares a lot of the same educational and spiritual beliefs Jesuit has preached for years. "When I look at the whole, the spiritual side, the academic side and the athletic side, I believe I'm in an outstanding position," he said.

Edwards replaces Vic Eumont, who resigned last month to become the head coach at Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Angeles.

"We wanted to get the (hiring) process done in two to three days, and it dragged on for two or three weeks or longer," Misuraca said. "We had a number of applicants, and we had to give them the opportunity to express themselves to our administration.

"(Edwards) has had experience as a head coach, he's been successful, and the thing I like the most about him is his integrity."