[Sly Fox]

He didn't go to school at LU, but he did coach on our football team back in the day:

Talking with ULM's Bob Leahy
By Michael Kern
mkern@thenewsstar.com

Last spring, Bob Leahy took over as the offensive coordinator for the ULM football team after 29 years in the coaching business. He was the first assistant coach ULM head coach Charlie Weatherbie hired to join his staff, then joining as a wide receiver coach.

A native of Lindenhurst, N.Y., and graduate of Emporia (Kan.) State, Leahy played two seasons in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a backup to Terry Bradshaw before taking his first coaching job as an assistant under Jackie Sherrill at Pitt.

In Leahy's coaching travels, he's also served as an assistant under Jimmy Johnson and Johnny Majors, while coaching teams that included Tony Dorsett, Jim Kelly, Andre Reed, Bobby Hebert and Anthony Carter among others.
On Friday, Michael Kern of The News-Star sat down with Leahy to ask him about his coaching career.

The News-Star: Tell the story of how you and Coach Weatherbie met and how you came to join his staff in Monroe.

Bob Leahy: That's a long story, but I'll give you the short version. In 1979, Jimmy Johnson offered me a job as the offensive coordinator in Stillwater (at Oklahoma State).

Charlie had just graduated the year before. He was trying to play pro football. I think he had a job with the Chargers and then he was doing something up in Canada.

During that first summer, we ran into each other and met each other, and really a friendship started there. It never really blossomed into anything from there until I was at Liberty University and his younger son Jonas was a senior in high school in Annapolis, Md., and I started recruiting Jonas to come to Liberty.

That really rekindled our friendship. He really liked and appreciated the way I recruited Jonas. They came on an official visit and Jonas even committed to us, but he eventually ended up going to Kansas.

But this is the first time we've ever worked together.

TNS: You are well traveled as a coach and player. Besides Monroe, do you have a favorite place that you've coached?

BL: Well, I think I do always say that my favorite place is the place that I am at right now. My wife and I, our children are grown. In fact, our six grandchildren just came to visit us last week, and that was a blast. They came from Virginia.

We just make the best of all situations that we are in. I'm from New York, coached in Buffalo, played in Pittsburgh, coached in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Minneapolis — a lot northern places. I don't think I really would like to go back north.

We really enjoyed Virginia, and we really enjoyed North Carolina. But you could say something good about everybody.

Right now, I really like the outdoors. I really like the small town but being one that is big enough to have everything you might want. We've got a great church, a great Sunday school class. It's things like that that are important to my wife and me.

TNS: Looking at your bio in the media guide, the list of great players that you have had the opportunity to coach is pretty impressive. Does one standout from the pack?

BL: The first great quarterback that I ever coached was the first one, Jack Thompson. He became a No. 1 draft choice. I named my son Jack Thomas after him, and he still is real dear to me.

My first job in pro football was with Bobby Hebert, and I got very close to Bobby.

I think those two probably panned out the most. I've been really fortunate to be around a lot of great coaches and great players.

TNS: You're taking over as offensive coordinator this year. What kind of personality would you like this offense to have?

BL: I think the biggest thing you always have to do as a coach is be yourself. I really admire (former offensive coordinator Todd Berry) and the work that he has done here. We've have really just taken his offensive system, which is very creative and very imaginative, and tweaked it a little bit.

TNS: Well would like this to be offense that controls the clock by running the ball or one that puts up a ton of points?

BL: After (the Alcorn State game), I'd like to be an offense that doesn't turn the ball over four times.

In order to be a good offense you have to be able to counteract what the other team is trying to do defensively. Some people are going to put seven, eight, nine people in the box to prevent you from running, and then you have to be able to throw the ball. If they are going to play back, then you have to be able to run it.

My second go-around at the University of Pittsburgh, we were No. 3 in the nation in total offense, and we were totally balanced throwing and running. We had a very strong offensive team. That is what we'd like to be able to do in that perfect world is be 50-50 run and pass.

TNS: You are in charge of recruiting northeast Louisiana. Talk about the added emphasis you as a staff have placed on recruiting local athletes.

BL: That all stems from Coach Weatherbie. The one thing that our staff does great is local recruiting.

If I've got an offensive lineman I'm recruiting, then coach (Steve) Farmer will be very instrumental in what we are doing. No matter what the position is, the local recruits will all get double-teamed plus Coach Weatherbie.

With the way the university is going and turning around a bit, each year things get a little better.

Again, we have a great group of talent in northeast Louisiana, and really I'm almost not enjoying that because every year more and more coaches from other schools are coming up here (to recruit) and making it more difficult for us. But I'd rather be in a place with a lot of great football programs and players, then be somewhere where you have to go travel to find them.

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