John Ehret may have been laying dormant for a while but with this new head coach leading the way, the sleeping giant might have just woken up.
John Ehret is a high school located on the west bank of New Orleans with no shortage in talent. It ranks in the top 10 in terms of total NFL Players produced in the entire state of Louisiana. Most notably among them is Reggie Wayne, one of the most productive WRs in NFL history. A school with this amount of talent has found success in the past, winning two state championships in the 1980s, but the team hasn’t made it past the 2nd round of the playoffs since 2018.
There is a chance all of that changes now, as Lloyd “Willie” Brooks has become the new head coach of the John Ehret Patriots. He joined the staff as their LB coach in 2023 and was named interim coach last year before getting the job permanently this January. Coach Brooks has a long track record of success throughout the greater New Orleans area, dating back to the 1990s where he learned from Don Wattigny, the first coach at perennial powerhouse Edna Karr. Brooks then became the first head coach at Helen Cox, and he brought that program very quickly to a competitive level, making the playoffs early on in competing at the varsity level. He then coached at Riverdale from 2017-2019 and at rival West Jefferson from 2020-2022, leading both programs to relative levels of success.
“It was very humbling to be named the head coach. I’m really excited for the opportunity to lead the program. This is a school with a lot of talented kids who can play college football, and it’s a job that has a lot of potential for success. The ceiling at John Ehret is tremendous.”
John Ehret Head Coach Willie Brooks
The last two jobs before this one – as HC of West Jefferson and as an assistant here – are arguably the two most helpful to let him hit the ground running. West Jefferson and John Ehret are only about 3 miles away from each other, so the players are already very familiar with Coach Brooks due to him being in the area for the last 5 years. Coach Brooks has learned a lot through his many years coaching, and he his coaching philosophy has become very well-defined in that time. He runs a tight ship wherever he leads, which is what he believes to be the most important factor to lead to success for a football team. He makes it extremely clear what he values in a program.
Structure and discipline are the two principles I never compromise. When I come to a new program, I have to set in a system of structure and discipline. When I am changing the culture, I am defining it with structure and discipline.
John Ehret Head Coach Willie Brooks
Of course, Coach Brooks isn’t the only one leading the team. He has assembled a number of assistants to help him build the program the way he wants it to be built. Wendall Sam is his defensive coordinator, who coached under him at West Jefferson and has tagged along with Coach Brooks at John Ehret. Kirk Kelley is the offensive line coach, an alumnus of John Ehret who has professional football experience having just come out of the USFL.. Nick Stroud is the defensive line coach, who also has college football experience. Everybody on Coach Brooks’ staff has been chosen with specific traits in mind, as he believes you have to be able to build a certain relationship with your players in order to be an effective coach.
I look for coaches that are good teachers, and coaches that have good relationships with kids. If you don’t show kids how much you care, I don’t care if you’re Nick Saban, you won’t be able to reach the,.
John Ehret Head Coach Willie Brooks
John Ehret just completed their spring game against Archbishop Shaw last week, and even though the game itself didn’t go very well for the Patriots, there were still plenty of bright spots throughout the roster for the team. Here are just a few of the key players for John Ehret going into this season.
2026 DL MaKennie Nichols is an undersized but ferocious defender on the defensive front who already has an offer from Louisiana Christian. He’s a SWAC level talent in Coach Brooks’ eyes who would be getting offers from everybody if he were just a couple inches taller.
Darrell Taylor is a 2028 WR that has a lot of potential and is looking to step into a starting role this season. He had a great performance in the spring game, and is looking to continue developing into one of their stars on the offense.
Christian Andrews is a 2026 SS with hard hitting tackling ability and solid coverage skills. He already contributed to the team last year, but there is a real chance for a senior breakout year in 2025.
Corey Dudley is a 2026 OL who is set to be the leader of the offensive line. He has a good first step and a bully’s mentality, a want to pummel somebody into the ground on every single play. He is getting recruited by colleges now and has a chance to command even more attention with an even more impressive 2025.
Overall this is a program with a lot of past success that is reaching for and hoping for more in the future. While the initial goals are small – just get back to the playoffs, compete for the district championship again – the future can be very bright at John Ehret.
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