Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

A community meeting was held on August 1, 2023, at the Marbles Community Center near Carroll High School in Monroe LA, where things like homecoming activities, witness statements about an ugly incident in Franklin Parish, and other issues were discussed. The school's football team will play the annual homecoming game Saturday, October 21, 2023, at 2:00 PM instead of the Friday before. The homecoming coronation will be at the Monroe Civic Center instead of Carroll Gym. There was some feedback on the Saturday game, but most welcomed the idea of a Saturday game, as some had been pushing for a change. Ironically, Carroll's opponent for the homecoming game will be the Franklin Parish Patriots, the very team Carroll beat when the ugly incident occurred involving Carroll's coaches. Carroll football has a storied history in Louisiana, as it was a football powerhouse winning numerous state football championships in the LIALO years. What happened during the game against Franklin Parish in 2022 will leave a scar in Carroll's history, because a situation that was supposed and expected to be orderly became violent when law enforcement, many have said, let it get out of hand. Something as simple as escorting the visiting team coaches back to their side of the field should have been routine. Many have asked why the Franklin Parish sheriff, who was allegedly dressed in street clothes, did not get Monroe security personnel to accompany them to retrieve the Carroll coaches from the press box. If the Carroll coaches thought that they were being "protected", that quickly changed when the situation turned hostile, as they were allegedly assaulted by drinks and punches by Franklin Parish fans. The sure signal of something very wrong was the press box announcer allegedly saying to the visiting team, "You need to come get your coaches."

As the coaches left peacefully, the altercation started when it was alleged that Landers committed an assault act against an officer. Within seconds, it became a wide, chaotic scene as a scuffle ensued with pushing and shoving, including where it appeared that some fans who were within inches from the coaches got involved. There were those who accused the Carroll coaches of "starting a riot", but they were on the "home" side of the stadium among Patriot fans who were quick to show their displeasure. Why start a "riot" when you are returning to your side of the field to be among your fans who are there with you in hostile home team territory? It made no sense.

Carroll Supporter & Booster Club Tommy Ballard

Many are still asking where was the protection for the Carroll coaches. As a result of the incident, Carroll's coaches were suspended for the rest of the 2022 football season. They were undefeated after winning the game against Franklin Parish. Head Coach Brandon Landers was charged with Battery on a Police officer among other charges, was allegedly given a plea deal, resign or face six months in jail. In a report, Landers said that "his back was against the wall; that he had no choice". Though the LHSAA are strict, suppose one of the Carroll coaches had been severely injured or possibly killed, what would LHSAA say about coaches' involvement then? Some would say, "It's about protecting one of your own." Coaches, like players, are responsible for each other, while security is supposed to be there to "protect all". What happened to the Carroll coaches' protection? Another Carroll coach had a court date scheduled for Thursday, August 3, 2023, in Winnsboro, LA, as the Carroll faithful lament that Landers' days as a coach in Louisiana could be/is over. As a football player at Grambling State University, Landers and the Tigers won the 2007 Bayou Classic, and he was named MVP. He himself was also once a Bulldog football player. His supporters are angry by how Landers and the staff have been treated, especially with the lack of support from its school board. They remain hopeful for a different outcome. Despite the drama, Landers will go down in the Carroll history books as the only Carroll head football coach since integration to go undefeated while raising Carroll's football back to prominence in 2022. He joins the likes of two great late coaches in J. L. Thomas and Dorth Blade as Carroll's greatest coaches. And there are certainly more successes to come for him on the blue and gold turf.