Coach Rickey Broussard’s work ethic started at home

Rickey Broussard had a tremendous amount of success outside of his native Vermilion Parish.
As head coach, Broussard led Nicholls State University to a pair of NCAA basketball tournament appearances. He made other high school and college stops, including a tenure as an assistant coach at LSU.
However, Broussard has always remembered where it all started for him.
Broussard, now residing in Lafayette, made a happy return trip to the parish on Tuesday, speaking to members of the Kiwanis Club of Abbeville.
“It’s always great to come back home,” Broussard said.
For Broussard, “home” wasn’t a very big place.
“I grew up in Leroy,” Broussard said proudly. “As you know, a very small town with a caution light, a church and Breaux’s Grocery Store.
“That was it.”
While a small dot on a map, the way of living in Leroy made a huge mark on Broussard.
“Leroy was good to me,” he said. “I grew up and worked hard. We got up at 4 a.m. to milk the cows. You have to bail hay and feed the cows every day. Even on Sundays.”
The son of Ervy and Flordra, Broussard told Kiwanis members that his story is not unique.
“We all grew up with parents who demanded putting in the work,” Broussard said. “You didn’t get paid. It was just part of growing up. Getting up at 4 a.m., then you had to go to school and study. Then you play ball.
“It wasn’t easy, but you did it.”
Broussard said there were some days easier than others.
“My mom would take my place on Tuesdays and Fridays,” Broussard said, “so I could sleep in. That’s when we played basketball games. I always looked forward to those days, of course.”
Broussard said he enjoyed being around the animals.
“We rode horses all day,” he said. “We had pigs and chickens.
“I told someone the other day I didn’t pay for meat until I was 33 years old.”
Most of all, Broussard remembers the work ethic he developed.
“I learned how to work,” Broussard said.
He took that into his coaching career.
“I feel like my work ethic separated me from other coaches,” Broussard said. “I didn’t feel like anybody we played against would outwork me. If he’s smarter than me, that’s that. But I didn’t feel like anybody was going to outwork my teams or me.”
From 1990 to 2002, that helped Broussard produce 150 wins for Nicholls State, including trips to the NCAA tourney in ‘95 and ‘98. He earned Southland Conference Coach of the Year on three occasions. In ‘18, the university honored Broussard by naming its basketball court after him.
“I loved it there,” Broussard said of his time in Thibodaux.
After leaving Nicholls, Broussard spent three years as an assistant coach on John Brady’s staff at LSU.
“I felt good about my time there,” Broussard said, “but I decided it was time to move on.”
That brought him to State Farm Insurance, where he worked as a recruiter. However, the work ethic that he brought to coaching did not change.
“I came out number one in the country,” Broussard said, “in eight out of 15 years.”
Broussard retired in ‘21. His wife, Paula, passed away last March, bringing him to Lafayette to be near his daughters. Family remains as important as ever, he said.
Broussard is not the only successful coach from his family. Danny Broussard has won multiple state titles as the head basketball coach at St. Thomas More in Lafayette. Brent Broussard led North Vermilion to a state baseball title in 1994.
“I think everyone knows Danny and Brent,” Broussard said.
Rickey is volunteering as a coach at STM alongside his brother, Danny.
“I’m retired and volunteering,” Broussard said. “The first thing Danny asks me to do is go to Lake Charles and scout.”
Broussard said with a laugh, “I told him I couldn’t do that. I’m retired. I can show up when I want.”
When asked to speak to the Kiwanis Club in Abbeville, in the parish where it started him, Broussard didn’t hesitate.
“I told them I could do that,” he said with a smile. “That’s my people down here.”