THE HOUSE THAT LOU

“ We’re going to build a baseball stadium, and you’re in charge.” Those were the words Coach Lou St. Amant heard from head football coach John David Crow in the early 1980s. St. Amant took those words to heart and oversaw the design and construction of the ULM baseball stadium, which hosted its first games in 1983. Now 40 years later, the field bears the name “Lou St. Amant Field” and is affectionately referred to as “The Lou.” It’s a fitting honor for a ULM icon who has served the university for decades, even long after his coaching days were over.

Lou St. Amant hails from Norco, La., a tiny town on the banks of the Mississippi River, just outside the shadow of New Orleans. St. Amant was a standout athlete in his youth and after graduating from Destrehan High School in 1957, he received a full scholarship to play baseball at LSU. “I turned down a big league contract coming out of high school,” said St. Amant. “My dad said, ‘You’re going to college.’ No one from our family had ever been to college,” he added.

Despite his promising talent, St. Amant’s baseball career was unfortunately cut short by an arm injury in 1960. He left LSU and returned to Norco unsure where his career would take him. The priest at his church offered St. Amant the opportunity to coach youth football and teach, and a new passion was born. The youth coaching job led to a high school job, where Coach Lou’s first connection with ULM (then NLU) came when some of his players were recruited to play at the university.

St. Amant knew that his career as a coach and teacher would be stunted if he didn’t finish his college degree. In 1968, he jumped at the chance to take a job as a student assistant at NLU and worked to complete a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and master’s plus 30. He returned to coaching football at Lutcher High School and created a successful program, winning 44 games in five years, but his time in Northeast Louisiana wasn’t finished.

St. Amant was brought back to NLU in 1976 under head football coach John David Crow as a receivers coach and head baseball coach. St. Amant took the position with one condition, “When spring starts, I want to be with the baseball team,” he told Coach Crow. “It’s only fair to the players you recruit that you be there with them,” said St. Amant. Crow accepted the deal and Coach St. Amant began what would become an 18-year tenure as NLU's head baseball coach.

The possibility of a new baseball field came about when the university found itself with a $3 million surplus following the construction of Malone Stadium. State regulations dictated that the funds had to be used to construct a new athletic facility. That’s when Coach Crow put the project in St. Amant’s hands. “He said, ‘You design it the way you want,’” recalled St. Amant. Given creative liberty over the design of the field, Coach St. Amant took road trips. In collaboration with architect Hugh Parker, Coach St. Amant designed the 1,800 seat stadium around the current needs of the team, with an eye toward the future. “People asked me why we built it so high,” said St. Amant. “There were two reasons: first we were in the swamp, so we had to raise everything up, but also I knew we weren’t going to have any money to add onto it later for offices and dressing rooms.”

The first season was played at the field in 1983, but after a year, the space underneath the stadium seating was still unfinished. St. Amant led the charge to raise $75,000 to finish out the offices and dressing rooms. The field was clearly a labor of love for Coach St. Amant, who often began watering the turf at 8:00 a.m., moving the sprinklers around every half hour throughout the day. He beams as he describes the community’s reaction to the stadium. “Everybody that came to the stadium when it was first built loved it. They’d say, ‘This is a great place to watch a game. There’s no bad seat in the house.’”

Over the course of his career, St. Amant coached hundreds of players, with five making the jump to the major leagues. Among those are former California Angels standout and Monroe native Chuck Finley, a five-time MLB All-Star. The statistic that St. Amant is most proud of, however, is not one that was accomplished on the field: over 90% of St. Amant’s players graduated from the university. Coach Lou took a personal interest in making sure his players took care of their studies. He spent many mornings going door to door in the dorms to guarantee no one missed their early classes. “A couple of them would tell you, ‘If it wasn’t for Coach, I would’ve never graduated,’” said St. Amant.

His players would also tell you that his care for the team extended beyond the field and classroom. Former ULM Athletic Director Scott McDonald played under Coach St. Amant from 1979-1983. “The thing about Coach St. Amant is you realize how much he cares. He cares for his players, his staff, and people in the community. He has a huge heart,” said McDonald.

“Coach St. Amant’s character is probably one of his best traits,” said Jeff Schexnaider, who played under Coach St. Amant in the 1980s and later served as head baseball coach at ULM from 20062014. “There was a family atmosphere. Everybody just loved to be here,” he added.

Coach St. Amant and his wife Marilyn were synonymous with the ULM baseball program. Though the St. Amants had no children, McDonald and Schexnaider both say that the team felt like their “kids.”

“Mrs. Marilyn every single game had a spot in the press box,” said Schexnaider. “They always made you feel like you were one of their children. They were inseparable. I always called them my north Louisiana parents,” he added.

St. Amant’s coaching career came to an end in 1993 with a total of 414 wins, including a 1983 Southland Conference Championship. He might have hung up his uniform, but his service to the university was far from over. While he was still coaching, St. Amant further cemented himself in the history of this university when he became the color commentator for ULM football radio broadcasts in 1985. He continued in that role alongside playby-play commentator Frank Hoffman for 22 years. “We had a great chemistry,” said St. Amant. “Frank knew how to carry a game.” Coach St. Amant also found himself behind the mic for basketball broadcasts. After his time on the baseball field was done, he moved up to the broadcast booth, calling baseball games for 12 years.

St. Amant’s time in broadcasting made him a well-known figure outside of the region as well. “The first question I would get when going to an out-of-town game was, “‘Is Coach Lou going to be here?’” said Bruce Hanks, former ULM Athletic Director and one of St. Amant’s baseball broadcast partners. “Everyone knew him and wanted him to be there because he made people happy."

"I don't remember any place we could go where someone wouldn’t know him,” added Schexnaider.

Coach St. Amant has continued to be a constant presence in the ULM baseball program even after his retirement. He has served as a mentor for each coach who has come after him. Schexnaider was uniquely positioned to learn from St. Amant both as a player and a coach himself. “He wanted to see one of his players succeed. I could just tell when I was a coach that he was a part of it still. I was part of him, and his legacy was living on through me,” said Schexnaider. “He was very supportive through the good times and bad. He put the university first and it was an honor to be able to follow in his footsteps.”

In 2022, Coach St. Amant received one of ULM’s highest honors, The Warhawk Ambassador Award, which is reserved for individuals whose interests and loyalty are evident in their deeds and actions, reflecting and recognizing the importance of ULM in our local and global community, and demonstrating pride in the university. “This university is personal to him, and he teaches that to everybody he comes in contact with who is a part of this university,” said Scott McDonald. “He personifies what it means to be an ambassador to this university. He encourages himself and others to give back to this university and make it better for the people who come after him.”

The renaming of “Lou St. Amant Field” became official prior to the start of the 2023 baseball season. The name is prominently displayed on the center field wall, with the nickname “The Lou” inscribed on the backstop behind home plate. For the people who know and love Coach Lou St. Amant and ULM baseball, this is a renaming that makes perfect sense. “He feels like it is a part of him and for him to have his name on it forever is very fitting,” said Schexnaider.

Coach St. Amant is honored to forever be associated with the ULM baseball program. “I view it as the administrations and people who hired me were pleased with the job we did. It means a lot to me,” he said. “My dear wife who’s not with us anymore would be so pleased. She spent a lot of time with this program,” he added. “I loved the people that I worked for and worked with.” ■