Dale Weiner, who coached at Catholic High in Baton Rouge for 30 seasons and led the Bears to their first state championship in 2015, died after a long battle with Parkinson’s on Wednesday evening.
He was 74.
Weiner, a 1970 graduate of Baton Rouge High School, became one of the Baton Rouge area’s coaching giants over the course his career which included head coaching stops at Trafton Academy (now The Dunham School) and St. John of Plaquemine.
“Late last night, our dad, Dale Weiner, went peacefully into the arms of Jesus,” Weiner’s son Neil released Thursday on the behalf of the family. “He was the best man we’ve known. As a husband, father, grandfather, and coach, everything he did was a demonstration of his faith. The eternal impact that he has had on the lives of countless people is his greatest legacy. We will be able to share details of services soon. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.
Weiner joined Jim Hightower’s staff at Catholic High-Pointe Coupee in 1975, beginning a coaching career that would span four decades until his retirement from Catholic High in Baton Rouge in 2016.
Catholic became a consistent winner under Weiner who was 282-81 (average of 9.1 wins a season) during his tenure at the school. The Bears won 18 district championships, made 15 trips to the state quarterfinals, eight to the semifinals and were the Class 4A state runner-up in 1990.
Catholic broke through in ’15 with a 31-28 victory over nationally ranked Archbishop Rummel in the Division I select state title game. Place-kicker Parker Fontenot’s 34-yard field goal as time expired resulted in the school’s first state championship – a game where running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire was voted the game’s MVP.
Weiner began the 2026 season ranked seventh all-time on the state’s career wins list with a 317-109 record for a winning percentage of 74.1%.
He only suffered one losing season and had 143 of his players sign college scholarships with 17 others, including Warrick Dunn and Travis Minor, playing in the NFL.
Weiner, a three-time LSWA Coach of the Year and 15-time district Coach of Year, is a 2025 inductee in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
He also coached Catholic’s weightlifting team to 18 state championships and is a member of the Gayle Hatch Louisiana Weightlifting Hall of Fame.
