“ | Hey Waterboy! YOU'RE FIRED! | „ |
~ Coach Beaulieu firing Bobby Boucher. |
Coach Red Beaulieu is the main antagonist of the 1998 hit comedy film The Waterboy by Adam Sandler.
He was portrayed by the late Jerry Reed.
Biography[]
Coach Beaulieu is the coach of the Louisiana Cougars, and in his many years as head coach has won dozens of games and is garnered respect by the players and his competitors. Though The Waterboy is meant to be a simple comedy, Coach Beaulieu is an evil, devious, manipulative and cruel character, who is willing to do anything to get his way. He has caused great mental pain to two of the main characters, Bobby Boucher and Coach Klein. He is shown to be willing to do anything to win and doesn't care who gets hurt in the way.
Back in the 70's, he and Coach Klein were up to replace the Head Coach at the time. In a green book, Coach Klein had thought up clever plays that could win him the Head Coach position. But Red was able to trick him into willingly handing over the plays, winning Red the position, and once he received the job and was through with Coach Klein, he fired him taking away his dignity. Coach Klein was eventually hired as coach for an unsuccessful college football team, the Mud Dogs.
During those years, he hired a waterboy named Bobby Boucher. In the time that Bobby worked for him, he berated him and allowed Bobby to be bullied by his players, causing much frustration to the poor boy. After 30 years, he fired Bobby, only to learn in a bar that Bobby had become a successful football player, using all the people who wronged him as a way to play. Not willing to lose, he plans to make sure that the Waterboy doesn't play. At a party celebrating Bobby's accomplishments, he and his players crash the event and have Bobby's girlfriend, Vickie, arrested and reveal that Bobby had never graduated high school and is ineligible to play, embarrassing him and his old rival once again.
At the Bourbon Bowl, Coach Beaulieu is pleased to see his team winning, satisfied of what he's done. Until Bobby shows up, having passed the test, leading Coach Beaulieu to go to great and harmful lengths to win. He orders one of his players to attack the waterboy, which the player does so and knocks out Bobby. Coach Beaulieu laughs at Bobby's misfortune until Vickie revives Bobby with his blessed water from a glacier in Alaska (or so he's been told). And with the help of his team, Bobby wins the game, reclaiming his, the team's, and Coach Klein's dignity and confidence. Coach Beaulieu is last seen, throwing an angry tantrum over the loss.
It's unclear what become of Coach Beaulieu afterwards. If he suffered a defeat at all, he was either fired and arrested, or was disgraced.
Personality[]
Coach Beaulieu is a mean-spirited, vindictive, cunning, cruel and unforgiving coach, willing to do anything to win. Beaulieu has zero respect or regard to anyone else's well being, even his own players. This is shown when he threatened to cut a player unless he got rid of the waterboy. While Coach Beaulieu can be calm and collective one moment, when pushed, he is easily ill-tempered and destructive, lashing out with a fury.
He is also shown to be highly cunning and manipulative, showing he is not above trickery or dishonest tactics, This is shown when he easily cons Coach Klein into handing over his playbook and mentally crippling him. He then discovers Bobby's records proving he never went to high school, disqualifying him from playing in the game. Although he can come off as charming, as when he talked with a fellow coach, though this could just be a ploy to achieve his goals or keep up appearances.