Sugar Bowl

The Allstate Sugar Bowl has recognized the top prep coaches from the Greater New Orleans area since 2000 – candidates must coach a high school team that is based in the Greater New Orleans area. From 1962-1999, the award was presented to the top prep coach in the state of Louisiana, regardless of the sport gender, and then from 2000-2013, the award was presented to the top New Orleans coach, regardless of sport gender. Separate awards for boys and girls prep coach were established in 2013-14. The honor is selected by the New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, which has been existence since 1957. All of the Sugar Bowl annual awards were presented on a calendar-year basis until 2009 when the Committee changed to an academic calendar (July-June). The annual awards banquet is typically held in late July or early August.
 
Wayne Stein, the head coach of a pair of state championship teams at St. Charles Catholic High School, was selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s Outstanding Boys Prep Coach for 2025-26. This is the second time Stein has been honored for accomplishing the rare double championship – he also achieved the feat in 2021-22.

Stein led St. Charles Catholic football to its fourth state title overall and its third in his five seasons as head coach. He then followed that up by leading the Comets to the LHSAA Division II Select baseball state championship.

Selected as the Crescent City Sports Greater New Orleans Coach of the Year in football, Stein directed SCC to regular season victories over an eventual state champion in Dunham, a Texas power in The Legacy School of Sport Science, and state semifinalist Belle Chasse. In the playoffs, the Comets defeated Northside, E.D. White and University Lab, the last in overtime, before a dramatic, improbable 23-21 win over reigning state champion Archbishop Shaw for the Division II Select state title.

In baseball, the second-seeded Comets (30-9) advanced to the state finals for the sixth time in seven seasons. With the championship series tied up at one game apiece, SCC trailed 3-2 with two outs in the seventh inning of the deciding game.

After falling behind 0-2, Gabe Kugler belted a two-run double down the line to put the Comets on top. Ben Bordelon’s RBI single and Dax Pregeant’s walk with the bases loaded sent home two more runs for a 6-3 advantage. After top-seeded Vandebilt Catholic added two runs in its half of the seventh, Brayden Cortez struck out the final batter to clinch the championship.

SCC swept No. 15 Lake Charles College Prep (6-0, 16-1) and No. 7 E.D. White (4-3, 13-8) to reach the semifinals where it took down No. 3 Teurlings Catholic (4-1, 4-1).

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