Yvette Girouard has coached 11 seasons at LSU, won more than 500 games and three Southeastern Conference championships and taken the Tigers to two Women’s College World Series.
But when the final out of the 2011 season is recorded, Girouard will close the book on her coaching career and retire. The announcement came as a shock to Girouard’s players, whom she informed March 4 before the opening game of the Purple and Gold Challenge.
“It was a really sad moment,” said junior outfielder Ashley Langoni. “It was shocking to us that she was going to be leaving us this year. There were a lot of tears shed.”
Girouard had wrestled with the decision for a couple years and nearly pulled the trigger after last season. But Girouard said she woke up one day this season and realized she was done.
“I was staying for the staff. I was staying for some of the players. I was staying for my family. I was staying for my friends,” Girouard said. “I was doing everything for what everybody else wanted. But really this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to retire.”
Following Girouard’s announcement, the Tigers swept the Purple and Gold Challenge but dropped five straight to open SEC play. Girouard said her team’s level of play factored into her decision.
“I’m not real pleased with the product right now, and I’m very competitive,” Girouard said. “I think it’s time for someone else to take the reins.”
The timing of Girouard’s announcement leaves incoming recruits unsure of whom they will be playing for next season. Girouard expressed concern for those players and the uncertainty they might face.
“It’s scary for the recruits and the people we have commitments for in 2012,” Girouard said. “Hopefully, they came to LSU for many reasons, and I think they did, and it will all be OK.”
In her time at LSU, Girouard has made LSU a national power and saw the creation of Tiger Park, one of the nation’s premier softball stadiums. But Girouard said she wants to be remembered for how she treated her players and not just her success on the field.
“It’s my job to make them better than when they got here,” Girouard said. “It’s my job to make them stronger women, and hopefully I’ve done that so they can handle anything in their future.”
Girouard began her coaching career in 1981 at her alma mater, Louisiana-Lafayette. She created the school’s softball program, oftentimes having to raise thousands of dollars just to field a team.
She became the new coach of the Tigers in 2001, taking them to the Women’s College World Series in her first season. Since then she has been inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame and has been named SEC Coach of the Year three times.
“She’s definitely a legend,” said junior first baseman Anissa Young said. “Not just at LSU but in softball history. I think she’s an amazing coach.”
LSU has not yet named a replacement for Girouard. She said administrators have sought her advice, but she doesn’t want to be involved in the process of finding a new coach.
Young said she’s unsure of how the program will fare without Girouard at the helm.
“You have to play it by ear,” Young said. “You can’t really say what’s to come. We’re going to take the lessons that Coach Girouard taught us, and hopefully we’ll be able to use the skills that she gave us and move forward with that.”
The only certainty is Girouard will not be coaching next season. She appears adamant in the finality of that decision.
“The end was in my sights for a long time. … There’s no going back,” Girouard said. “The administration asked me to really think about it, but there’s no going back.”
 
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Contact Hunter Paniagua at [email protected]