Cullen Doody, who directed Jesuit to one of the best cross country seasons in Louisiana history, was selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s
Greater New Orleans Boys’ Prep Coach of the Year for 2022-23. The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, selects annual award winners in a variety of categories; it also selects Amateur Athletes of the Month and each year’s Hall of Fame class.
Doody capped an impressive season by being named the national boys cross country coach of the year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Doody arrived at Jesuit High School, his alma mater, in 2020 and put the runners on an 18-month training schedule he believed would result in a state championship. He was proven correct when the Blue Jays won the 2021 state title with then-sophomore Michael Vocke as the lead runner. One year later, Jesuit won a second consecutive championship with senior Jack DesRoches — a Vanderbilt commitment — as the lead runner. The Blue Jays posted the five fastest times at the Division I meet in November to achieve a perfect score of 15 points. In addition to the state championship, Jesuit won against national-level competition at meets in Alabama and Indiana.
“I didn’t know this was an award three years ago,” Doody said of the national honor. “These kinds of awards weren’t on my radar. That wasn’t why I got into doing this. I got into it because I wanted the kids to run faster. I wanted the program to reach new heights. We have eight seniors on this team. At least four of them will run Division I in college.”
The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee has recognized outstanding high school coaches for the New Orleans area since 1962. It is the first time that Doody has been honored.
The other finalists for
Greater New Orleans Boys’ Prep Coach of the Year were
Nate Roche (Carver Basketball),
Marcus Scott (Destrehan Football), and
Wayne Stein (St. Charles Catholic Football/Baseball). Despite graduating three players to the Division I collegiate ranks, Roche directed Carver to its third straight LHSAA state championship game and its second straight title in 2023. Scott, in his third year as Destrehan’s head coach, directed the Wildcats to a perfect season capped by the LHSAA Division 1 Non-Select State Championship. Stein, who won this honor last year, directed St. Charles Catholic to state titles in both football and baseball for the second straight year.
The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee came together when James Collins spearheaded a group of sports journalists to form a sports awards committee to immortalize local sports history. For 13 years, the committee honored local athletes each month and a variety of annual award winners. In 1970, the Sugar Bowl stepped in to sponsor and revitalize the committee, leading to the creation of the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1971, honoring 10 legends from the Crescent City in its first induction class. While adding the responsibility of selecting Hall of Famers, the committee has continued to recognize the top amateur athlete in the Greater New Orleans area each month as well as a range of annual awards – the honors enter their 67th year in 2023.
The
Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 102 Hall of Fame players, 52 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 89-year history. The 90th Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Semifinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2024. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting nearly $2.4 billion into the local economy in the last decade.
