Robert Eugene Ladouceur (born July 3, 1954) is a retired American football coach. He was best known for being the head coach for the De La Salle High School football team in Concord, California.

Early life Ladouceur played for the Utah Utes football team in 1972 and for the San Jose State Spartans football team for 2 seasons in 1974-1975. Ladouceur graduated with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from San Jose State University (SJSU) in 1977. Ladouceur received a Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary doctorate) from SJSU in 2015.

Career Prior to his coaching career, Ladouceur was a Probation officer. In 1978, Ladouceur began his high school coaching career as an assistant coach at Monte Vista High School. One year later, Ladouceur became the head coach at De La Salle High Spartans football team. He took over a program that never had a winning season since the school's establishment in 1965. His first season as head coach resulted in their first winning season. His second season resulted in their first appearance in the California Prep Football State Rankings and began De La Salle's evolution into a perennial champion. From 1992 to 2004, he guided the team to 12 consecutive undefeated seasons, setting a national winning streak record for high school football of 151 consecutive wins—a record in US amateur sports exceeded only by the 159-game winning streak of Passaic High School in men's basketball and the 459 match win streak of Brandon High School in men's wrestling. Ladouceur was enshrined to the National High School Hall of Fame in 2001. His team topped the USA Today rankings five times and he is a three-time coach of the year. He retired on January 4, 2013 with a career record of 399–25–3. His .934 winning percentage is a record among coaches with 200 or more wins. Ladouceur is the all-time winningest coach in California high school football and has led the De La Salle program to numerous championships. Ladouceur retired in January 2013 after winning his last Open Division state championship in December 2012.

When the Game Stands Tall A film about his life called When the Game Stands Tall was released on August 22, 2014. The film, which stars Jim Caviezel as Coach Bob Ladouceur, Laura Dern as Bev Ladouceur, Michael Chiklis as assistant coach Terry Eidson, and Alexander Ludwig as running back Chris Ryan, is about the record-setting 151-game 1992–2003 high school football winning streak by De La Salle High School of Concord, California. The film is an adaptation of the 2003 book of the same name by Neil Hayes and published by North Atlantic Books.

Personal life Bob married Lissa Ladouceur on January 3, 2015.

Championships and record

National championships (11):1994 (ESPN), 1998 (USA Today), 1999 (National Sports News Service), 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 (USA Today), 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 (Calpreps) California State Bowl championships (5): 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 CIF North Coast Section championships (28): 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 East Bay league championships (5): 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Bay Valley League championships (11): 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 Golden Bay League championships (2): 1986, 1987 Catholic League championships (4): 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985

Season Team Win Loss Tie Notes 1979 De La Salle 6 3 0 1980 De La Salle 8 2 0 1981 De La Salle 7 2 0 1982 De La Salle 12 0 0 NCS 2A champions 1983 De La Salle 8 2 1 1984 De La Salle 11 1 0 NCS 2A champions 1985 De La Salle 12 0 0 NCS 2A champions 1986 De La Salle 12 0 0 NCS 3A champions 1987 De La Salle 11 1 0 1988 De La Salle 13 0 0 NCS 3A champions 1989 De La Salle 11 2 0 NCS 3A champions 1990 De La Salle 13 0 0 NCS 3A champions 1991 De La Salle 12 1 0 1992 De La Salle 13 0 0 NCS 3A champions; win streak begins with season-opening victory over Merced 1993 De La Salle 13 0 0 NCS 3A champions 1994 De La Salle 13 0 0 NCS 3A champions 1995 De La Salle 13 0 0 NCS 3A champions 1996 De La Salle 12 0 0 NCS 4A champions 1997 De La Salle 12 0 0 NCS 4A champions 1998 De La Salle 12 0 0 NCS 4A champions 1999 De La Salle 12 0 0 NCS 4A champions 2000 De La Salle 13 0 0 NCS 4A champions 2001 De La Salle 12 0 0 NCS 4A champions 2002 De La Salle 13 0 0 NCS 4A champions 2003 De La Salle 13 0 0 NCS 4A champions 2004 De La Salle 8 3 2 NCS 4A champions; win streak ends at 151 games with season-opening loss to Bellevue (WA) 2005 De La Salle 11 2 0 NCS 4A champions 2006 De La Salle 13 1 0 NCS 4A champions; lost to Canyon (Santa Clarita) in CIF Div. 1 Bowl, 13-27 2007 De La Salle 13 0 0 NCS 4A champions; defeated Centennial (Corona) in CIF Div. 1 Bowl, 37-31 2008 De La Salle 12 2 0 NCS Div. 1 champions; lost to Centennial (Corona) in CIF Div. 1 Bowl, 16-21 2009 De La Salle 13 2 0 NCS Div. 1 champions; defeated Crenshaw in CIF Open Division Bowl, 28-14 2010 De La Salle 14 0 0 NCS Div. 1 champions; defeated Servite in CIF Open Division Bowl, 48-8 2011 De La Salle 13 1 0 NCS Div. 1 champions; defeated Westlake in CIF Open Division Bowl, 35-0 2012 De La Salle 15 0 0 NCS Div. 1 champions; defeated Centennial (Corona) in CIF Open Division Bowl, 48-28TOTAL 34 seasons 399 25 3 0.938 winning percentage, 20 undefeated seasons, 28 North Coast Section championships, 5 CIF Bowl championships

References

External links Legends of HS football: Bob Ladouceur