LONGVIEW, Texas — The 2001 football season is a memorable one for Jonny Louvier.
It's the year he led the Gladewater Bears to a thrilling 21-20 victory over the Spring Hill Panthers in the second round of the playoffs. 18 years later, that same quarterback is now seen under lights as the head coach for the panthers.
"Most memorable game would probably be when we played Spring Hill when I was at Gladewater," Louvier said. "The way we won, thrown a touchdown pass to my brother to kind of win the game. "It very rarely happens for anybody. So that was just a moment. Not only my teammates, but my actual blood brother can still talk about, its just one of those games that you'll never really forget."
Known as one of the top quarterbacks in East Texas in the early 2000s, it was one setback that led to a life-changing decision.
"When I really knew it was in college, I got injured," Louvier said. "At the time, I'd never been hurt before and not always been able to play football. To be told, hey, you're going to sit out 18 months, I struggled with that."
During the rough time, Louvier recalls A&M Commerce coach Joe Cauthen calling him into the office and said: "quit being a baby." From that moment Louvier realized there was still more he could do for his team.
"Just by being there and helping other quarterbacks," Louvier said. "Being somebody the guys could still look at as a leader."
Tasked to turn a program around that hasn't seen the playoffs since 2007. One thing is for sure his impact has already been felt.
"He's completely flipped the mentally, his program around he's down great. But line all the kid's eyes knowing that this isn't the greatest football program and he is definitely shown up and shown out and showed us what a real coach and staff and what's real what is supposed to be like."
For Louvier being a coach is more than just his everyday job.
"I can honestly say I go to work every day and I don't really feel like I'm at work," Louvier said. "So I'm just extremely blessed to have a good coaching staff and be able to make an impact here in Spring Hill."