West St. John Fires Football Coach Derron Thomas Days Before Playoff Game at Jeanerette

The high school football playoffs start this week in Louisiana, but one team will be going into its opening-round game without the head coach from the regular season.

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Coach Derron Thomas Out at West St. John

West St. John High School, out of Edgard in St. John the Baptist Parish, fired head football coach Derron Thomas earlier this week, according to multiple reports.

READ MORE: 2026 LHSAA Football Playoff Brackets Are Set — Notre Dame is Acadiana's Lone No. 1 Seed

The Rams finished 2-8 on the season but qualified for the Division IV Non-Select playoffs as the No. 27 seed. They'll travel to face the No. 6 seed Jeanerette Tigers (8-1) with an interim coach.

Thomas’ Record at West St. John

Thomas spent four years as the head coach of West St. John after being hired in 2023. He ends his tenure there with an overall record of 17-27 in four seasons. He led the Rams to the playoffs in all four seasons. The program won one playoff game each in 2024 and 2025.

Thomas' best season with West St. John came in 2024 when they went 7-4 and won a playoff game over Arcadia.

A once-prominent program, Thomas took over after the Rams had three straight losing seasons from 2020-22. (West St. John High School has won four football state championships all-time -- 1998, 2003, 2004, and 2017.)

The Playoff Matchup: West St. John at Jeanerette

We do not yet know who the interim head coach will be for West St. John when they face Jeanerette on the road this Friday, November 13, 2026, for the Bi-District round of the playoffs.