NATCHITOCHES—The Northwestern State track and field teams added another veteran voice in the room with the addition of Lon Badeaux, head coach Mike Heimerman announced Monday.

Badeaux, who retired as the head coach from UL Lafayette in November, will serve as the jumps coach for NSU, replacing Richard Fisher, who accepted an assistant coach position at Michigan State.

The veteran brings nearly 25 years of coaching experience, serving as the head coach for ULL for the previous 12 seasons and head coach at Arkansas State the four years prior to heading to ULL.

"After retiring from head coach, I was honestly unsure of what I wanted to do," Badeaux said. "But after the support and comments from past athletes saying how much I touched their lives, I realized that coaching was still in my future.

"When this job opened, the appeal of working with such high-level coaches as Coach Mike (Heimerman) and Coach Adam (Pennington) and with such a high-quality team, I knew it was something I had to pursue. I am honored to work for Northwestern State and thank everyone who has given me this chance."

In his 12 seasons at UL Lafayette, Badeaux coached 17 All-Americans, including three-time All-American Albert Fournette and two-time All-Americans Jasmine Manuel and Maria Bienvenu.

He also coached Morgann Leleux, the 2016 NCAA DI runner-up in the women's pole vault and alternate on the 2016 U.S. Olympic team.

Overall, Badeaux coached 75 Sun Belt Conference champions as well as 279 All-Sun Belt Conference selections in his time as the head man with the Ragin' Cajuns.

"I am very excited to add a coach with the knowledge and experience that Lon has," head coach Mike Heimerman said. "When I found out that I needed to replace Richard, who I am very happy for getting a power 5 job, it was a little scary to try and fill a position 3-4 weeks before the season starts. But I think we found a great fit with Lon. He knows the state and region for recruiting, has some international connections for recruiting and is a solid coach that knows the events we need to be coached."

During his tenure, Badeaux was named LSWA Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year twice as well as being named the Sun Belt Conference Men's Outdoor Coach of the Year in 2012 in his first season with the Ragin' Cajuns.

Prior to his time in Lafayette, he spent four seasons as the head coach at Arkansas State after being an assistant at ASU from 2000-11.

While at ASU, he was part of its 2006 men's indoor Sun Belt Conference championship team and was the interim head coach when student-athlete James Jenkins was named an All-American after placing fourth in the triple jump at the NCAA Track and Field Championships.

Overall, he coached 69 Sun Belt Conference champions, 53 regional qualifiers and 19 national qualifiers with the Red Wolves. Seven student-athletes were named All-Americans under his tutelage, while one more competed in the Olympics.

Badeaux was named runner-up for the 2004 Mondo National Assistant Coach of the Year for jumps and multi-events by the USA Track and Field Coaches for Division I-A. He was also named to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Committee for scheduling.

A graduate of UL Lafayette, he competed on the track team, setting the indoor and outdoor records in the pole vault at 17-7 and 17-5, respectively, which stood for 14 years.

In 1996, he was an All-American following a third-place finish in the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Badeaux earned his bachelor's degree from UL Lafayette in 1996 and his master's from Arkansas State in 1999.

The NSU track and field teams continue their indoor season with a trip to Lubbock, Texas, for the Jarvis Scott Open.