Interview With Micah Simoneaux

Another project I want to undertake is to seek out some of the more successful coaches in the state of Louisiana, as well as the country, and interview them to get a better idea of what coaches are doing that they find works in building their team and training their athletes.  Hopefully this will help the coaches who read it and give them insight into things they can do in their own programs.  The first interview I am posting is one with an old friend of mine who has gone on to coach team and individual state champions before he has even turned 30.

Micah Simoneaux began his coaching career at Archbishop Shaw High School in Marrero, Louisiana in the summer of 2007. He has since then changed the direction of the distance program at Archbishop Shaw that has brought them into the forefront of Louisiana high school distance running. In just his fifth year, Coach Micah and his team won the school’s first state championship in cross country in the fall of 2011. Returning only 2 members of the 7-man state championship team, Coach Micah and his team achieved success yet again claiming the cross country state runner-up trophy in the 2012 season. He has also coached many state meet qualifying athletes in distance track. Those athletes include Shaw’s indoor 4 x 800m team that earned a 2nd place finish in the 2011 state championship and a 3rd place finish in the 2012 state championship as well as an individual state champion in the 2013 state championship class 4A 1600m run.

Chaz Caiado: Coach Simoneaux, for the past two years in class 4A you've won a state title and have finished runner up in cross country.  Now you are moving up to 5A and will face some of the best teams in the state, including St. Pauls who could be an all-time Louisiana great team with the senior class they have.  How are you and your team handling this?

Micah Simoneaux: We are going to handle it just like we have the past two years: one day at a time. I know my guys can get caught up in the stats and times of other teams, and as a coach you need to be as well to some extent. But, I feel it’s very easy to become overwhelmed with those things, psych yourself out and your team for that matter, and lose focus. One thing I feel that we do well, and the burden is very much on my shoulders, is we maintain our focus despite anything else that’s going on around us. We have had our fair share of challenges in the past, but if there’s anything the past two years have proven it’s that we can very much overcome those challenges and achieve our goals.

CC: What seniors do you have on your team this year, and how do you think they are handling the role of being the leaders?

MS: Our key seniors this year are Chris Mauldin and Reggie Williams. It has been evident to me since this past track season they are ready to lead this team. Chris seemingly came out of nowhere last cross country season with a huge improvement from the previous year in his three mile race, finishing the state championship meet last November in 18th place and this season qualifying for the outdoor state meet in the 1600m. Reggie came to us as a sprinter, but really this young man was made to run distance. He was a big help to us during the 2011 season when we won the 4A state championship and last year where he finished in 8th place as our number two runner. You didn’t see him too much this past track season except for a race or two as a leg on our 4x400m team as he has been recovering from a lingering injury. However, he’s been chomping at the bit since the start of summer conditioning. Both athletes have made it clear to me they are going to put everything on the line this year and make this year their best yet.

CC: What do you attribute to your teams success in the past few years in cross country, and how do you hope to recreate your past success?

MS: Our success comes from a level of hard work and optimism that continues to build with each passing year. I feel it takes a special kind of athlete to compete against the best teams in the state. That athlete may or may not be the most talented kid, but they see and want the level of success they see when other teams step up on the podium to receive their state championship or runner-up trophy. We have been fortunate to attract more of those kids to our program year after year. I always tell my guys this: it doesn’t matter if you’re the fastest or the slowest guy on the team, as long as you run to the best of your ability and encourage others to do the same; you’re doing your part to achieve the team’s goals.

CC: What type of team building or goal building exercises do you believe in doing over the summer to prepare for the fall?

MS: During the summer, we have what is called the Watermelon Club. It began many years back with a local coach who would work with kids on the Westbank that were interested in preparing for the fall cross country season. Two years after coaching at Shaw, I decided to exclusively work with the Shaw athletes as I felt it was the direction we needed to build the caliber team we have today. The tradition of the watermelon club is simple: each day after a run we eat watermelon that someone from the team brings to practice. It may not seem like much, but when you finish an eight mile run or a workout in the scorching temperatures of a summer afternoon, that watermelon is the tastiest thing you have ever eaten! We also incorporate the local road races and track meets into our schedule as a way to break up the monotony that may occur and give the athletes a chance to see where they are in their conditioning.

CC: Do you feel that becoming a successful team has made the coaching role more or less challenging?

MS: The coaching role in itself is very challenging and it brings with it new challenges each year. Our success over the past couple of years has definitely increased the challenge aspect by raising the level of expectation to which we hold ourselves accountable. I am a competitive person by nature. Challenges are what motivate me, and these challenges motivate our program. Like you mentioned earlier, our biggest challenge we face this coming season is an extremely competitive field in 5A. Our team has much respect for the top teams we will be facing, but I think it would be a disservice to our past achievements by not making a run for the top spot next season (no pun intended!).

CC: Does your team have any rituals or anything special that brings the team together?

MS: We have two that immediately come to mind, one of which came about as something started by the athletes themselves. The first is what was formerly known as Friday football but is now Friday Frisbee. During the non-competition parts of the year, we would play football on Fridays as a way to get in our running and let loose a bit. After a while these football games would become pretty competitive, so I decided to switch to something a little less contact and started playing ultimate Frisbee. The other ritual we have is a pre-practice game of hacky sack. This came about a year or two ago. School is dismissed at 2:30PM so there is a little bit of time before we begin practice. This gives me time to prepare for the day’s schedule. In the meantime, the guys would also be preparing for practice, but would finish ahead of me. One day one of our guys brought a hacky sack and started kicking it around. Soon enough the whole team was kicking it around and whatnot. So, the game has kind of incorporated itself into our stretching routine, but if anything it’s a great release of stress from the school day and a team morale booster.

CC: Do you have any markers or indicator workouts you do in the summer to monitor your teams fitness from year to year?

MS: Along with some of the races the guys will run during the summer, our Monday workouts are what I use as our indicator workouts. They will typically be some sort of longer interval (usually “broken miles” or mile repeats) and the amount of intervals increase every three weeks. We like to focus not only on pacing during these intervals, but other race tactics like leading, drafting and surging. With the passing of each three-week interval, I’ll be able to see if the athletes are improving and what specific aspects a particular athlete may need to focus. It’s nothing complicated at all. It’s something that can be quantified into data the athletes can see, and if it’s something they can see (like race results and such) I feel you get a better response from them.

CC: What do you feel is the biggest challenge for a high school coach in regards to building his team?

MS: What might as well be the greatest challenge to any coach is getting students to buy into the program. Running has to be the hardest thing to sell to high school kids, especially with all the other sports and clubs. Let’s face it: in my experience, most kids would want to join just about every other sport or club other than cross country. And then, when the kids get to the first few days of practice, the kid may end up frustrated and quit when they realize the lack of instant success or, dare I say it, hard work and patience that is required for the sport. As I said earlier, the kids that join the team don’t necessarily need to be the most talented kids out there, but they do need to be willing to work hard for themselves and more importantly their teammates. From there, whether it’s winning a state championship or improving in the slightest bit from last year, you can be successful.

CC: Do you believe the depth of Louisiana distance running is approaching where it was in the 80s and 90s and why do you think so?

MS: My knowledge of running history isn’t as broad as yours, Chaz, and thanks to you and the rest of the Louisiana Running community, it continues to grow. But I can say from what I do know and from my experiences as a high school runner at the very tail end of that era, Louisiana distance running is going through a resurgence period that will take us back to those times and, with the quality coaching available, keep us there for some time. From what we saw at last year’s cross country season and track this year, those top athletes put on a great show of competition as well as the coaches nurturing the talents they have. It’s remarkable to think what the future holds when considering what the state’s best teams and athletes are capable of and this is one of those things that inspires me to do my best as a coach to see to it my athletes are among those other great athletes.

CC: What advice would you give to fellow coaches in regards to building and maintaining a successful program?

MS: I would refer them to a conversation I once had with Coach Pete Boudreaux. I was on vacation three years ago and I just happened to bump into him. There obviously was no need for introduction on his part, but I introduced myself, where I coached and we started talking about our teams and cross country. He then began to talk about his own experiences with starting his historic career at Catholic High School of Baton Rouge. It seems people think that the greats always have a secret plan or an ace up their sleeve, but what I gathered from our conversation was simple: be a leader and example to your kids, work hard, and be patient. Success in this sport doesn’t come overnight and the sacrifices are many, but the rewards are worth the effort.

CC: Thanks for your time coach.

MS: It was my pleasure.