Olivia Dunne’s heavily successful LSU gymnastics career wouldn’t have panned out as successful as it is if it hadn’t been for Jay Clarke. The current LSU head coach guided her to improve her beam skills and helped her find consistency in her floor exercise. This led her to immensely great things like the 2022 SEC Academic Honor Roll and the 2023 Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll. Thus, a lot of credit for Olivia’s success goes to Jay Clarke.

However, Jay credits his own career to his mentor and predecessor at LSU, D-D Breaux. Before joining LSU, he was the head coach of the University of Georgia. But failure to bring results saw him ousted from the job after three years. But D-D Breaux identified the gymnastics coaching potential in him and offered him the LSU assistant job, which he accepted. Thus, after six years of working under her, Jay Clarke was appointed as the person responsible for filling her big shoes, and the rest is history. This is why D-D Breaux is a huge part of LSU history. This makes the recent news coming out of Baton Rouge even sadder.

Numerous LSU Gymnastics Championships rings stolen

According to the advocate, about 40 championship rings won by LSU gymnastics during the glorious era of D-D Breaux were said to be missing from her office. This was reported on November 14th. All of these rings were safely kept in a brown case of the former coach’s office in the athletic department building. Breaux was heartbroken after hearing the news, as it was her life’s work.

“They could’ve taken anything else from my office,” said the coach. “That case was the one thing with generational value.” The coach, who works as an ambassador now, doesn’t go to her LSU office that often, which is why she decided to fully search her home once the rings were said to be missing. According to her, she last saw the case a week before it went missing on November 7th.

The police department reported that the office had apparently not been locked at the time, leading to the suspected theft. While the gymnastics coach’s rings were stolen, her medals remain safely stored at home. However, the loss goes beyond monetary value for D-D Breaux. A cherished ritual of hers—wearing a ring from a specific season whenever meeting a member of that team—is no longer possible. The rings, valued at over $3,000, symbolized milestones in her storied coaching career at LSU. Currently, there are no suspects, and the search for the missing rings continues, leaving Breaux to grapple with the emotional weight of this loss.

D-D Breaux’s illustrious career as LSU gymnastics coach

The LSU gymnastics program regards D-D Breaux as its architect, credited with transforming the team into a powerhouse in women’s gymnastics. Under her leadership, the team made remarkable progress, appearing in 17 NCAA Championship finals since 2008 and securing 14 individual national titles since 2002. Throughout her illustrious 42-season coaching career, the LSU Tigers ranked among the nation’s top 10 teams an impressive 30 times and achieved their program-best second-place finish three times. Breaux’s impact on LSU gymnastics is both profound and enduring.

These achievements undoubtedly bolster D-D Breaux’s claim to the title of the greatest college gymnastics coach ever. Her contributions have not gone unnoticed—Breaux has been honored as SEC Coach of the Year nine times, a testament to her unparalleled impact. She is revered in LSU history, with many attributing the program’s rise to her transformative leadership. Her influence laid the foundation for the team’s current success, paving the way for talents like Olivia Dunne to thrive at LSU. Without Breaux, the program might never have achieved its elite status. The credit for LSU gymnastics’ storied past and promising present undeniably belongs to her.