Welsh’s proud and rich football tradition is now in very young hands.

But 26-year-old Ronnie Courville, who served a short apprenticeship for his entire coaching career under previous Greyhound head coaches Cody Gueringer (now head coach at Sulphur) and John Richardson (now at Westlake) is no stranger to lore and history of the program.

The McNeese graduate has been at the school six years and grew up in nearby Jennings.

Welsh went 9-2 last season, finishing second in District 5-2A before falling in the second round of the playoffs to Oak Grove. The Greyhounds, of course, are no strangers to the playoffs.

“They left a great structure and a great culture,” Courville said of the coaches he served under. “I feel like what I learned the most from them is how to structure things.”

Courville, who was mostly on the defensive side of the ball during his six years as an assistant, will stick with the Greyhounds’ spread attack on offense. But leading passer Gabe Gillett and rusher Kennon Legros, who had just over 1,400 yards 21 rushing touchdowns are gone and will have to be replaced.

“We have a couple of younger guys that are going to move into starting roles,” Courville said. “But I think we have a lot of potential for sure.”

The Greyhounds will find something for returning all-state defensive end Troy Pattum to do. He’s listed at both that position and tight end for this season.

But the rest of skill spots on offense are newcomers, including junior Jonavon Begnaud will take over at quarterback, while Hayden Van Ness is expected to be the featured running back. Both are talented backs, but, all told, only four offensive starters return.

It’s only slightly better for the ‘Hounds 4-3 defense, where five starters are back. But they get back leading tackler Carter Phelps, who had a pair of sacks among his 80 total tackles to lead the team a year ago.