After one of his best friends lost his job, interim head coach Butch Pierre was thrust into the first head coaching position of his long career. Pierre was named interim head coach Friday, one day after Athletic Director Skip Bertman fired former coach John Brady. Pierre has been an assistant coach at LSU since the 1997 season when Brady hired him. He has never been a head coach at any level but said he is now ready to take on the challenge of being the head coach of a major university. “I’ve been an assistant coach for 22 years now, and I’ve worked at three or four programs that have been very successful,” Pierre said. “I’ve prepared myself for this situation, and hopefully it will be a great experience for me and my family, and I’m happy this happened at LSU.” Brady was also supportive of Bertman’s decision to promote Pierre to the position, noting that he felt Pierre was a very qualified replacement. “It’s the natural thing to do,” Brady said. “[It is] the appropriate thing to do, and the right thing to. LSU did good there, and I did good by hiring Butch.” During his years at LSU, Pierre has gained most of his praise for his role on the recruiting trail. While at LSU, he has recruited nine Parade High School All-Americans and four McDonald’s All-Americans. The Tigers currently have the No. 18-rated recruiting class for the 2008-2009 season, ,according to Rivals.com. He is also considered by ESPN analyst Dick Vitale as one of the top head coaching prospects among college assistants. He also has the confidence of the players he is now responsible for coaching. Pierre’s godson, junior forward Tasmin Mitchell, is hopeful that Pierre will receive the head coaching spot after the conclusion of the season. “We all want Butch to be our coach permanently,” Mitchell said. “I do. I’m going to go ahead and say it: I want Butch to be my coach.” Pierre, a Darrow native, played his college basketball at Mississippi State where he started for four seasons at point guard. During his playing time in Starkville, Brady was on staff as an assistant coach for the Bulldogs. After graduating in 1984, Pierre remained at Mississippi State as a graduate assistant until 1986. He then made coaching stops at Kentucky State, Louisiana-Lafayette and Charlotte before he was hired at LSU. Pierre was an assistant coach under Brady from 1997-2002 and was promoted to associate head coach following the 2002 season. In his head coaching debut Saturday, Pierre coached the Tigers to a two-point loss to then-No. 7 Tennessee in the PMAC. Although it was a new experience for him, the players said Pierre acted as if he were a veteran. “Every coach is nervous before a game,” Mitchell said. “He was nervous just like the players were. Even when [Pierre] was associate head coach, that is the way he felt.” The end of the season may not bring an end to Pierre’s days as a head coach at LSU. Bertman said he is in the process of forming a search committee to find a suitable replacement for Brady. “Butch Pierre or any other staff member like [assistant coach] John Treloar will be considered for this position,” Bertman said. “There are no limits or boundaries here.” But Pierre said any ideas of him applying for the head coach position after the season were “premature.” “Things happen so fast, so I really have not thought of that,” Pierre said. “Its not all about me right now. It’s about these players, and it’s about where we are right now and me trying to get them through it mentally.”
—-Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]