Frank Monica
Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame
Football, 1971-2021
Lutcher HS/Riverside Academy/Jesuit HS/St. Charles Catholic HS
Inducted: 2023
If Frank Monica does not coach again, he has secured his legacy as one of the very best high school coaches in Louisiana prep history.
Monica retired in 2021 after 51 years in coaching. It was an amazing career.
Monica won 284 games and captured state championships at three different schools – Lutcher, Riverside Academy and St. Charles Catholic. He also did a fine job as the head coach at Jesuit and served as an excellent offensive coach at Tulane in two different stints with the Green Wave.
While Monica is known for his football exploits, the Leon Godchaux graduate started his brilliant career in baseball, playing on the 1970 College World Series baseball team at Nicholls State.
He started his coaching career as a graduate assistant in baseball at Nicholls State in 1971 and then in that fall transitioned to the high school level, coaching football and baseball at Lutcher. It was the beginning of an incredible journey.
“It has been truly amazing,” Monica said. “It is fun now to reflect on what has happened.”
Stepping away from what you love is never an easy decision to make.
“I don’t know if there is such a thing as a perfect time,” Monica said. “You always wonder when the time is just right but it just felt like it was time to step aside.”
Most recently, Monica guided St. Charles Catholic through difficult times, including several hurricanes and the COVID-19 pandemic, as the football coach and athletic director.
He arrived at St. Charles Catholic in 1997, beginning his tenure as the head baseball coach from 1997-2000 before taking over as the Comets’ head football coach in 2000.
His final employer will always be the most special stop in his career.
“St. Charles Catholic has been home for quite some time,” Monica said. “It is a truly fine school with truly fine people and I was so fortunate to work with great administrators at St. Charles Catholic. I had great administrators at Lutcher, Riverside, Jesuit and St. Charles, but St. Charles will always be home to me and my family, where my sons attended school.”
Monica reflected on every stop in his illustrious coaching career.
“I learned a lot at Lutcher [where he was the offensive coordinator) and it’s really where I got started with my first real opportunity,” Monica said. “When Lou St. Amant left for an assistant’s job at Northeast Louisiana after we won the state championship in 1975, we also won in baseball and I was the head baseball coach. I had a knock on the door to tell me Lou was leaving.”
Monica opened the door.
“Two school board members were there to tell me I was the new head football coach,” said Monica, who was 26 years old at the time. “I shut the door and told them to get out of my house. I said we lost 27 seniors and you want me to follow that? They talked me into it, but I was petrified. Coach Don Perret of Rummel and I were at a clinic together. He calmed me down about it. He was a real good man and coach.”
Monica went on to win a state title in 1978 at Lutcher.
“That was a great experience,” Monica said. “I remember one memorable game with West Jefferson in 1978, who was undefeated and loaded. We won the game. That was one you don’t forget. The people still talk about that game.”
Monica ended up at Riverside Academy and his success continued, winning a state title in 1983.
“Riverside Academy was a short stint but I enjoyed my time there and we won a championship,” Monica said. “I had great administrative support and you need that to be successful.”
While 284 wins and state championships at three different schools is tremendous, the numbers would have been loftier had Monica not felt a calling to a higher level of competition.
Monica served two stints as an assistant at Tulane, from 1979-1982 under Larry Smith and Vince Gibson and again from 1989-1996 under Greg Davis and Buddy Teevens. The Green Wave went to the Liberty Bowl and the Hall of Fame Bowl, respectively, under Smith and Gibson.
“Tulane was a challenge but it was a pleasure to work with the young men at a fine institution,” Monica said. “I wish we could have won more. There were challenges but I liked it enough to work there twice, since they would have me.”
Jesuit hired Monica and he served five years with the Blue Jays (1984-88), directing the team to three playoff appearances, before he returned to Tulane.
“We had nice teams and good kids at Jesuit,” Monica said. “It is a well-run school with a good administration. I have high regard for the young men I coached there and the positive experience. Father Harry Thompson was great to me.”
After his second term at Tulane, it was on to St. Charles Catholic in 1997.
While Monica clearly misses coaching, he is enjoying watching the Comets play in all sports without any stress while spending time with his grandchildren.
“Being home at regular hours is quite different,” Monica said. “When you’re the head coach and athletic director, it is very time consuming. You miss out on some things. Now, I have time for those other things.”
The latest honor for Monica has humbled him.
“It is nice to know that people appreciated what you did in some small way,” Monica said. “That is what you cherish. The Allstate Sugar Bowl is a staple of our community and it is a real honor to receive recognition like this.”
As for the most memorable moments, Monica said the number of wins (284 in football, 114 in baseball) is not as important as people make it out to be.
“The number of wins is nice but I never got into coaching to build numbers,” Monica said. “I never worried about getting to 300 wins, which many have told me about. That was not a goal of mine. The quality wins against teams you didn’t think you had a shot at. It was never the quantity of wins but the quality of wins. The state titles are certainly memorable but so were the kids who did not win titles who had great character and gave you maximum effort all the time. I will never forget those young men.”
While Monica may be done coaching, he still has a potential future in another profession – he’s well-known as a jokester.
“If you have any openings for a Comedy Club routine, I’m your man.”
That’s no joke.
Neither was the brilliant career of Monica.
Story by Ken Trahan of the Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee.
