WALLACE — The year was 1979. Disco was still cool, bell bottoms were in and Antoine Edwards had just been laid off from his construction job at a local plant. Then he spotted an ad in a local newspaper. West St. John High School was looking for a coach.

The Edgard native was going through a rough time, having spent four years at Grambling State relishing his role on the football team then another couple of years travelling around the country chasing the dream.

“I was hoping to find a way to continue playing football,” Edwards said. “It just didn’t work out.”

Edwards had been a stand-out player at Second Ward High School in Edgard, where he played football, basketball, baseball and ran track. He signed with Grambling State’s football team as a linebacker.

Now the new high school, West St. John, had an opening.

“I was just sitting around after being laid off and I said, ‘I don’t need to work construction. I have a degree,’” Edwards recalled.

He went to see Coach Clarence Millet.

“He told me he was looking for a basketball coach,” Edwards said. “I said I can do this.”

Then, Edwards got his first paycheck.

“I looked at that and I said, ‘I don’t think I can make it on this,’” Edwards said. “Somebody told me, ‘Hang in there. It will get better.’”

It must have. Edwards spent the next 34 years as teacher and head basketball coach at West St. John, nurturing generations of athletes on football fields and basketball courts — as well as their Health and P.E. classes.

Meanwhile, his basketball teams won scores of district titles and one state championship in 2000. His 2005 team finished as state runner-up.

“We had a lot of talent come through here, a lot of really great athletes,” Edwards said.

He’s seen so many, in fact, he has hard time singling out a best.

“Leonard Butler was probably the most talented,” Edwards said. “Dale Savoie had a lot of great athletic ability.”

After putting in 30 years, Edwards said he started to feel the itch to retire. He finally signed the paperwork in 2012.

“I really loved being a basketball coach,” Edwards said. “We had some really good players for being a little school and, when you look at the number of doctors and lawyers and other professionals, we had some really good students, too.”

Edwards said he also loves being retired — even though he doesn’t spend a lot of time in a rocking chair.

Struck by a small heart attack just before he retired and now considerably smaller than he used to be, Edwards spends his days walking, jogging and lifting weights. He also spends a lot of his free time as a referee, calling football and basketball games for the St. John the Baptist Parish Recreation Department.

“I tried baseball and softball, but the love just wasn’t there,” he said.

Speaking of love, Edwards also spends a good deal of time helping his wife, Clara, with her cooking business, CRS, in Wallace. Together they serve up plate lunches, sandwiches, gumbo and a few other tasty treats.

“I don’t cook,” Edwards said. “I am the assistant. If she needs something, I’ll go to the store or I’ll sweep the floor. That’s about it.”

By Lori Lyons