OHS Coach Welcomes Opportunity

BOBBY ARDOIN

Editor/Consulting Writer

If coaches remain at the same destination for too long, there’s seldom a chance for advancement.

That’s the position Jimmy Zachery, Jr., is taking this month as he prepares to take his next career coaching step.

Zachery is scheduled to report as head coach at Liberty Magnet School in Baton Rouge Feb. 24, after building perhaps one of the most successful programs in Opelousas High history.

The change in his career destination is apparently as much a surprise to Zachery as it is to the St. Landry Parish athletic community.

After his four OHS teams finished 36-15 with a state championship and a couple of district titles, Zachery says it’s time for a new challenge in a Baton Rouge-area Class 5A district that Zachery describes as a “big boy league.”

“Sometimes you have to take the opportunities that become available to better yourself and do what is best for your family. That is the way I am looking at this decision. It’s another way for me to prove myself,” Zachery said during a Thursday interview with St. Landry Now.com.

The offer from the Liberty Magnet administration, Zachery said, was unexpected.

“One day I got a random call from the (Liberty Magnet) principal and he asked if I would be interested in going there. My name had been given to him, so he contacted me and I told him I would be interested,” said Zachery.

Liberty Magnet – formerly Lee High School – has the sufficient facilities and athletes that Zachery thinks will serve as a base for building a winning program. Liberty Magnet was 3-7 in football last year.

“They have talent at the school. The basketball teams are ranked at the top of the power points right now. I feel good about going there and making a difference in football,” Zachery said.

The district includes traditional football standouts like Catholic High, Zachary and Central High. The non-district schedule this year includes Southern Lab, Lutcher, Salmen, White Castle and Bogalusa. Each of those programs were involved in the 2024 playoffs, while Central was a finalist.

Zachery said he has the option of bringing assistants to Liberty, but that’s a decision that will be made later, he said.

Meanwhile Zachery thinks that whoever is placed in charge of the OHS program will have a core group of players to rebuild a district contender.

OHS lost a large senior group of 18 players following the 2024 season.

Seven of those players have signed college football scholarships, while talented, senior wide receiver Korey Fontenot awaits on choosing a program