5-Time French Champion Larry Legault New Head Coach for Switzerland’s Geneva Seahawks

Switzerland’s Geneva Seahawks have signed long time Thonon Black Panther (France) coach Larry Legault as the new head coach and technical director of the team that finished second in the second division in Switzerland in 2015.

Legault, a native of Montreal, Canada, is a resident of Geneva and simply decided that it made sense to coach the team in his city. With a growing family it allowed him more time to spend at home. Thonon les-Bains is located just across the border in France and according to Legault has been a wonderful place to coach football.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Black Panthers. It is a wonderful organization and I wish them the best.”

Legault’s coaching resume is impressive. He has won five titles in France and coached the national team for 10 years. As the Black Panthers head coach for 11 years, he guided them to French titles in 2013 and 2014 and took them to the championship final six times including this past season where they lost to the Saint Ouen-l’Aumône Cougars. He also took home three championship trophies in the early 1990s with the  Aix en Provence Argonautes (1990, 1991, 1992).

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Larry Legault busy preparing for 2016 with his new staff

In fact, in his 15 seasons as a head coach in the top division in France, his teams appeared in 10 title games.

Coach Legault spent 10 seasons as a university coach in Canada with Bishop’s University and Mount Allison.

As France’s national team head coach from 2004 to 2014 he oversaw the team’s rise from the lower echelons of Europe to become one of the top three nations in American football in Europe.

His main objective with the Seahawks will be the structuring of skill development programs for all club members from the youngest flag participants to the players in the senior team. And clearly the ultimate objective for the club is to advance to the top league in Switzerland with Legault at the helm.

Legault is a popular speaker at camps and coaching clinics and will continue to do so as he assumes his new duties with the Seahawks.

Roger Kelly is an editor and a writer for AFI. A former PR Director the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League for 7 years, he now lives in Sweden writing about and scouting American Football throughout the world.