Mike Detillier dies after brief battle with cancer, revered as respected college & pro football analyst for 40+ years on WWL

Just days after learning he had terminal cancer, Mike Detillier has died at the age of 65.

Detillier planned to share his condition with his WWL audience after Labor Day… on his 66th birthday on Tuesday.

The long-time NFL and college football analyst was just diagnosed less than two weeks ago.

“It was a shocker. But I’m good with this.I’ve made my peace with it. I’ve had a good life – a blessed life – and Iintend to savor every last morsel with my family.” - Mike Detillier, WWL SportsTalk Host, said after his cancer diagnosis.

The cancer had already spread through his body.

“Last week, I was rushed to the hospital for stomach pain. After several CAT scans and tests, doctors broke the unbelievable news: I have metastatic pancreatic cancer. Stage 4. Incurable,” Detillier revealed.

Detillier had been preparing how announce it.

“While it’s an incredibly emotional time, I want to thank everyone – the listeners, the whole team at WWL radio and Audacy, New Orleans, and all those who put up with me over the years – from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity to let me live my passion: The game of football. Hosting SportsTalk with Bobby J, Deuce, Hoss, Steve, and the whole crew – working for WWL has been the honor of a lifetime.”

WWL Reacts to the news

The staff at the radio station where Mike Detillier called home is heartbroken to learn of the news of their dear colleague and friend’s death. But, along with the sorrow, comes the flood of memories and appreciation for all Detillier’s historic career, and all he’s meant to WWL.

Bobby Hebert, Deuce McAllister, Mike Detillier and Archie ManningWWL

“You had to pack a lunch if you were going to start talking football with Mike. The man did his homework,” said Bobby Hebert. “But that’s how Mike earned the respect of players, coaches, and analysts around the country – not just here in New Orleans. It was everywhere. Mike comes prepared, and that’s the name of the game right there. It’s heartbreaking, and hard to stomach, and almost impossible to imagine the thought of analyzing Saints and LSU without him. I don't know how I'll get through the next Second Guess Show without Mike. We've been doing that show together for over two decades. Since before Katrina. He was like a brother. This hurts. It really hurts."

“There’s no replacing him,” said Deuce McAllister. “You won’t find a sharper football mind out there. I played 9 seasons as a pro, but when Mike spoke, I learned. He saw things in a way that most people couldn’t. He had an engineers mind – an absurd ability, really, when you stop to think about it – not only to take all the angles of a game in at once and process that information, but to bring in all the information of players dating back to their early days, before college even. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who can bring that level of insight and personality to the table like Mike D.”

Steve Gellar, MIke Detillier, Mike Hoss WWL

“I just… He’s going to be missed. His voice, his heart. This team – New Orleans has had some absolute legendary analysts over the decades. Think about the list: Buddy D, Hokie (Gajan), Jim Henderson, Hap Glaudi, Stan Brock, Bobby Hebert. The name Mike Detillier is right up there,” states Mike Hoss, Voice of the Saints. “And Mike was on with just about all of them through the years. He has such a history at this station. Such respect from football fans. All of us will miss Mike D ever day.”

“Mike Detillier captured the heart of our community with his honesty, buoyant personality, and his rich and deep fact-loaded analysis,” says WWL Brand Manager Diane Newman. “He became a reflection of this region’s pure passion for football better than just about anybody. Mike is dedicated and has a true love of the game at every level - high school, college, and NFL. And he’s navigated his role with the utmost respect and admiration for players and coaches, and you see that respect in return. His connection to them is as authentic as his accent. And, when we made that decision to put our two Cajuns together to host SportsTalk, you could almost hear something click. When you turn the dial and put on Bobby Hebert & Mike Detillier – you’ve tuned into unbridled magic. “

The Cajun Takeover: Mike D Joins WWL Full Time alongside Bobby Hebert

In July of 2021, Mike Detillier’s role on WWL transitioned from longstanding guest analyst and fixture on Monday’s Second Guess Show to full-time co-host.

“I know Buddy D’s smiling down from heaven,” Bobby Hebert remarked during the 2021 announcement.

“Do you know how much of a challenge it is, trying to rein in two Cajuns?” Hebert continued. “There’s not going to be any dead air! There’s going to be so much information and talking –your head might explode.”

Hebert recalled the day he and Mike D worked side-by-side for the first time ever.

“The first time we actually did a show together was the 2004 draft,” says Hebert. “They flew me into town. Buddy D told me he needed help with coverage. That’s how Mike and I came together, doing draft shows and Second Guess.”

Following their first appearance together in 2004, the duo would appear on WWL for the Second Guess Show and Draft Fest for 18-plus years.

“The first time I ever came on WWL,” Mike D said, responding to Hebert’s statement, “Was the 1983 draft – the draft you would’ve come out in, Bobby. There was a rumor: The Saints had a late-round pick that year. And Bruce Miller was doing coverage from Saints camp. He called me and said, ‘Listen, I think they’re going to pick Bobby Hebert.’”

Detillier recalls telling Miller, “I told him I bet they won’t. At that time, you only held the rights of a player for one year. I said, Bobby's got a long-term deal, unless the USFL folds, he’s staying there… They picked David Greenwood.”

A foot in the door: Mike D remembers Hap Glaudi and Buddy D

Throughout his career, Mike D often credited two titans of Louisiana Sports Radio, Hap Glaudi and Buddy Diliberto, for his success in becoming an analyst and personality the Bayou State embraced as one of its most highly respected and sought-out football experts.

Hap, Detillier states, is responsible for offering him his start as a draft analyst.

“One night in the early 1980s,” a Gambit article recalls, “Detillier received a phone call that would open the door to sports media. Detillier’s friend from high school was dating legendary WWL sportscaster Hap Glaudi’s daughter. “(My friend) told Hap, ‘You’ve got to get Mike Detillier on. I’m just telling you he knows more about sports than anybody, especially football.’”

After ten minutes on the phone with Mike D, Hap had heard enough: This Detillier guy knew what he was talking about, and just as importantly, knew how to say it.

While Glaudi gave Detillier his start, it was Buddy D who took Detillier under his wing, becoming his mentor and, eventually, a dear friend.

After Buddy D passed, Detillier wrote about his relationship with the beloved Saints radio personality.

“For the last 10 years of his life, not a day went by where he didn’t call me or where we would not see or work with one another. It didn’t matter if it was a holiday, vacation, or if I was overloaded with work. He called. He made me laugh. And we had some great memories and stories that are still hard to believe,” Detillier writes.

“He would call me every 10 AM after Mass,” Mike D remembers. “One day, I could hear him talking to the priest. Buddy tells the priest, ‘The station called. I have to do an interview.’”

“I told Buddy: Why did you lie to the priest? You could have told him we were talking about gambling on games.”

“Buddy said, ‘Mike, that’s why I go to church every day. God understands.’”

When Detillier became a full-time WWL co-host, he quoted his mentor:

"I will approach this next step of my career in sports, as I have in the past decades, using the words of Buddy Diliberto as my guide: 'Never be afraid to be wrong, give the best opinion you have based on experience, facts, and thinking things through. But you are not always going to be right, and admit it when you are wrong. People respect that.'”

A Guru’s Guru: NFL Draft Guide, Manning Passing Academy, and Louisiana Line Camp

Something that separates Detillier from most analysts is that if you give him the name of a player, he isn’t just going to give you some light background about where he went to college and if he had any major injuries --- he’ll tell you what color Gatorade they drank at their middle school tryout.

If you have to pick three things that are undoubtedly associated with the expertise of ‘Mike D,’ and represent the veritable data center in his head, the list would go as follows: His notoriously informational draft guide/WWL Draft Fest coverage, the Manning Passing Academy, and the Louisiana Line Camp.

“The M&D Draft Report has become a spring staple for many rabid football fans around the world over the last 30 years, selling thousands of copies each year to places as far as Japan and Australia,” says a 2016 article highlighting the staggering impact of Mike’s draft guide. “The 200-page publication rates more than 700 college football prospects and features in-depth profiles on over 350 players.”

Mike D revealed that, every year, his 200-page guide would have to be boiled down from around 900 pages of initial analysis.

Over the decades, Detillier sold hundreds of thousands of copies that would inform, not just Louisiana or the nation, but the world of what they could expect from the upcoming NFL Draft.

Detillier would then carry his mountain of insights every year to WWL Airwaves to unleash them during the station’s annual 3-day Draft Fest, where he could offer fans cutting insights into the newest members of the Black and Gold family.

“I remember when we hired Saints legendary O-lineman Zach Strief to be our play-by-play analyst; he was in awe of how much Mike D knew off the top of his head about players entering the draft,” states Diane Newman. “Detillier made WWL's wall-to-wall NFL draft coverage grounded and easier. And Mike could do the same for high school players before signing day. Through Mike D’s work with Manning’s Passing Academy and Pete Jenkins’ Louisiana Line Camp, having Mike on our WWL staff is like having an in-house scout. That’s how that ‘Bayou Boy’ became an analyst who wasn’t just trusted and respected in our community, but around the country..

…

Detillier kept a firm grasp on the football talent pipeline through his devoted attendance to Louisiana’s premier high school training camps, like the Manning Passing Academy, where he would renew and deepen the well of football knowledge he held year-after-year.

“I’ve been to all but two of them,” Detillier said this year when interviewed about his history with Manning Passing Academy, an event that grew from a small, sparsely attended event in 1996 into a national powerhouse for sharpening the country’s most promising football talent before they become stars.

Some of the names to attend MPA over the years include (just to name a few): Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Matt Stafford, Jayden Daniels, Jalen Hurts, Jared Goff, Dak Prescott, Russell Wilson, Drake Maye, Cam Ward, Tyler Shough, Bryce Young, and Baker Mayfield.

Detillier authored a feature piece in 2025 about how the system based in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and led by Archie, Peyton, Eli, and Cooper Manning, managed to become one of the most highly sought-out programs for star high school athletes looking to take their talent to the next level.

“Last year, 2,567 high school athletes and over 340 counselors worked the three football camps at Nicholls State University: The Louisiana Line Camp, The Manning Passing Academy, and the Pro Football Camp.”

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for high school players in our region and from across the country to learn from the Manning’s, all the starting quarterbacks in college football, and former and current players who play along the offensive and defensive lines,” says longtime football coach Don Rodrigue. “You have coaches in the NFL here and players from the region who play pro football now and give back to the area, like Maason Smith, Amik Robertson, and Sai’Vion Jones, just to name a few. We had LSU’s Will Campbell here last summer to work with the offensive linemen, and he was just selected with the fourth overall pick in the entire draft by the New England Patriots.”

Detillier spoke with Archie Manning, who talked about the decision to keep MPA in South Louisiana.

“We got approached a few years back by the Disney folks to move the camp to Orlando, but Thibodaux was home for us,” Manning told Mike D. “Great folks. They treat us so well, and we all felt strongly the camp should stay in Louisiana.”

But Detillier’s insight didn’t stop at one end of the field. His obsession for defensive analysis is displayed in his tight-knit relationship with legendary defensive line coach Pete Jenkins, who co-founded the Louisiana Line Camp in 1987.

“The passion of those who lead the camp is certainly reflected in its growth,” Detillier wrote. “According to Jenkins, Louisiana Line Camp’s first year had between 85-90 campers. In 2024, 722 campers attended the camp. This year, over 755 campers pre-registered to participate.”

Jenkins explained the importance of the unique nature of the Louisiana Line Camp to Mike D: “We didn’t want this to be a recruiting camp, and it’s not one today… This is a teaching camp for getting high school players to hone their craft if they play along the offensive/ defensive line or play linebacker. We even have some tight ends involved with the camp.”

The many layers of Mike Detillier

Detillier’s ability to talk the talk is undisputed. But his expertise also comes from walking the walk. A former fullback and linebacker at Central Lafourche High School, Detillier carved out a love of football from an early age, and that love never left him. As he tended to it, it only grew stronger.

And while Detillier is so commonly recognized for his wealth of sports knowledge, with any passion he had, he spoke about doing it with “both feet in.”

Detillier also spent 29 years in the engineering world, studying aquatic engineering at Louisiana Tech and Sacramento State, and eventually took an engineering job for the State of Louisiana. As he navigated his profession, he never lost sight of his passions that spark that joie de vivre that’s so evident every time he speaks.

When he wasn’t busy meticulously scouting draft prospects, he enjoyed spending his time hunting and fishing on the Bayous, at home in Lafourche Parish perfecting his brisket recipe, and spending time with his wife, Linda, his daughters, Stephanie and Kimberly, or with his two Granddaughters, “the bosses,” Norah and Mia.

Linda and Mike DetillierWWL

In 2006, Sports Illustrated named a Cajun football analyst from Lafourche Parish the “Best Unknown Sports Voice in America.”

“The New Orleans Saints aren’t the only people receiving national recognition for their success this football season,” read a Houma Today column that dates back to December 28th, 2006. “NFL analyst and Raceland native Mike Detillier was called the ‘Best Unknown Voice’ by SportsIllustrated.com media columnist Richard Deitsch in his 2006 Media Awards on Wednesday.”

Deitsch’s column read: “With the Saints becoming America’s team, Detillier has become America’s sports-talk guest… Detillier’s bayou boosterism, engaging personality, and football chops make him an enjoyable listen for these East Coast ears.”

You could practically hear a collective laugh rise from the state of Louisiana: These damn Yankees… Mike Detillier? You mean ‘The Football Guy? The walking, ever-talking encyclopedia of every gridiron showdown in the Bayou State from Caddo to Calcasieu? … Unknown?

For decades leading up to 2006, the voice of Mike D wasn’t just known throughout nearly every football-obsessed household across Louisiana, SEC, and NFC South territory. It was respected, if not beloved.

“Bobby (Hebert) still gives me grief about that,” Detillier said in 2010. “He wonders how it took me over 20 years to be named best new radio voice in the country.”

…

In 2015, Houma Today published a questionnaire: “Meet Mike Detillier.”

One of the questions asked him to describe his dream job.

His response: “I think I’ve got it now: In sports, as a broadcaster.”

Mike Detillier’s job as a sports broadcaster on WWL may have come to an end, but he entered his final days with the same bravery and heart that he brought into the studio day-in and day-out for over four decades.

“Life throws you curveballs – it tackles you from left field,” Mike D told WWL after learning of his terminal cancer. “This is one I didn’t see coming. But, I know this: I’m a believer…in God…in family…in the goodness of people…and that football and sports are the great American healers. I just hope I get a seat in the press box in heaven… right next to Buddy D.”

WWL

Just days after learning he had terminal cancer, Mike Detillier has died at the age of 65.

Detillier planned to share his condition with his WWL audience after Labor Day… on his 66th birthday on Tuesday.

The long-time NFL and college football analyst was just diagnosed less than two weeks ago.

“It was a shocker. But I’m good with this.I’ve made my peace with it. I’ve had a good life – a blessed life – and Iintend to savor every last morsel with my family.” - Mike Detillier, WWL SportsTalk Host, said after his cancer diagnosis.

The cancer had already spread through his body.

“Last week, I was rushed to the hospital for stomach pain. After several CAT scans and tests, doctors broke the unbelievable news: I have metastatic pancreatic cancer. Stage 4. Incurable,” Detillier revealed.

Detillier had been preparing how announce it.

“While it’s an incredibly emotional time, I want to thank everyone – the listeners, the whole team at WWL radio and Audacy, New Orleans, and all those who put up with me over the years – from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity to let me live my passion: The game of football. Hosting SportsTalk with Bobby J, Deuce, Hoss, Steve, and the whole crew – working for WWL has been the honor of a lifetime.”

WWL Reacts to the news

The staff at the radio station where Mike Detillier called home is heartbroken to learn of the news of their dear colleague and friend’s death. But, along with the sorrow, comes the flood of memories and appreciation for all Detillier’s historic career, and all he’s meant to WWL.

Bobby Hebert, Deuce McAllister, Mike Detillier and Archie ManningWWL

“You had to pack a lunch if you were going to start talking football with Mike. The man did his homework,” said Bobby Hebert. “But that’s how Mike earned the respect of players, coaches, and analysts around the country – not just here in New Orleans. It was everywhere. Mike comes prepared, and that’s the name of the game right there. It’s heartbreaking, and hard to stomach, and almost impossible to imagine the thought of analyzing Saints and LSU without him. I don't know how I'll get through the next Second Guess Show without Mike. We've been doing that show together for over two decades. Since before Katrina. He was like a brother. This hurts. It really hurts."

“There’s no replacing him,” said Deuce McAllister. “You won’t find a sharper football mind out there. I played 9 seasons as a pro, but when Mike spoke, I learned. He saw things in a way that most people couldn’t. He had an engineers mind – an absurd ability, really, when you stop to think about it – not only to take all the angles of a game in at once and process that information, but to bring in all the information of players dating back to their early days, before college even. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who can bring that level of insight and personality to the table like Mike D.”

Steve Gellar, MIke Detillier, Mike Hoss WWL

“I just… He’s going to be missed. His voice, his heart. This team – New Orleans has had some absolute legendary analysts over the decades. Think about the list: Buddy D, Hokie (Gajan), Jim Henderson, Hap Glaudi, Stan Brock, Bobby Hebert. The name Mike Detillier is right up there,” states Mike Hoss, Voice of the Saints. “And Mike was on with just about all of them through the years. He has such a history at this station. Such respect from football fans. All of us will miss Mike D ever day.”

“Mike Detillier captured the heart of our community with his honesty, buoyant personality, and his rich and deep fact-loaded analysis,” says WWL Brand Manager Diane Newman. “He became a reflection of this region’s pure passion for football better than just about anybody. Mike is dedicated and has a true love of the game at every level - high school, college, and NFL. And he’s navigated his role with the utmost respect and admiration for players and coaches, and you see that respect in return. His connection to them is as authentic as his accent. And, when we made that decision to put our two Cajuns together to host SportsTalk, you could almost hear something click. When you turn the dial and put on Bobby Hebert & Mike Detillier – you’ve tuned into unbridled magic. “

The Cajun Takeover: Mike D Joins WWL Full Time alongside Bobby Hebert

In July of 2021, Mike Detillier’s role on WWL transitioned from longstanding guest analyst and fixture on Monday’s Second Guess Show to full-time co-host.

“I know Buddy D’s smiling down from heaven,” Bobby Hebert remarked during the 2021 announcement.

“Do you know how much of a challenge it is, trying to rein in two Cajuns?” Hebert continued. “There’s not going to be any dead air! There’s going to be so much information and talking –your head might explode.”

Hebert recalled the day he and Mike D worked side-by-side for the first time ever.

“The first time we actually did a show together was the 2004 draft,” says Hebert. “They flew me into town. Buddy D told me he needed help with coverage. That’s how Mike and I came together, doing draft shows and Second Guess.”

Following their first appearance together in 2004, the duo would appear on WWL for the Second Guess Show and Draft Fest for 18-plus years.

“The first time I ever came on WWL,” Mike D said, responding to Hebert’s statement, “Was the 1983 draft – the draft you would’ve come out in, Bobby. There was a rumor: The Saints had a late-round pick that year. And Bruce Miller was doing coverage from Saints camp. He called me and said, ‘Listen, I think they’re going to pick Bobby Hebert.’”

Detillier recalls telling Miller, “I told him I bet they won’t. At that time, you only held the rights of a player for one year. I said, Bobby's got a long-term deal, unless the USFL folds, he’s staying there… They picked David Greenwood.”

A foot in the door: Mike D remembers Hap Glaudi and Buddy D

Throughout his career, Mike D often credited two titans of Louisiana Sports Radio, Hap Glaudi and Buddy Diliberto, for his success in becoming an analyst and personality the Bayou State embraced as one of its most highly respected and sought-out football experts.

Hap, Detillier states, is responsible for offering him his start as a draft analyst.

“One night in the early 1980s,” a Gambit article recalls, “Detillier received a phone call that would open the door to sports media. Detillier’s friend from high school was dating legendary WWL sportscaster Hap Glaudi’s daughter. “(My friend) told Hap, ‘You’ve got to get Mike Detillier on. I’m just telling you he knows more about sports than anybody, especially football.’”

After ten minutes on the phone with Mike D, Hap had heard enough: This Detillier guy knew what he was talking about, and just as importantly, knew how to say it.

While Glaudi gave Detillier his start, it was Buddy D who took Detillier under his wing, becoming his mentor and, eventually, a dear friend.

After Buddy D passed, Detillier wrote about his relationship with the beloved Saints radio personality.

“For the last 10 years of his life, not a day went by where he didn’t call me or where we would not see or work with one another. It didn’t matter if it was a holiday, vacation, or if I was overloaded with work. He called. He made me laugh. And we had some great memories and stories that are still hard to believe,” Detillier writes.

“He would call me every 10 AM after Mass,” Mike D remembers. “One day, I could hear him talking to the priest. Buddy tells the priest, ‘The station called. I have to do an interview.’”

“I told Buddy: Why did you lie to the priest? You could have told him we were talking about gambling on games.”

“Buddy said, ‘Mike, that’s why I go to church every day. God understands.’”

When Detillier became a full-time WWL co-host, he quoted his mentor:

"I will approach this next step of my career in sports, as I have in the past decades, using the words of Buddy Diliberto as my guide: 'Never be afraid to be wrong, give the best opinion you have based on experience, facts, and thinking things through. But you are not always going to be right, and admit it when you are wrong. People respect that.'”

A Guru’s Guru: NFL Draft Guide, Manning Passing Academy, and Louisiana Line Camp

Something that separates Detillier from most analysts is that if you give him the name of a player, he isn’t just going to give you some light background about where he went to college and if he had any major injuries --- he’ll tell you what color Gatorade they drank at their middle school tryout.

If you have to pick three things that are undoubtedly associated with the expertise of ‘Mike D,’ and represent the veritable data center in his head, the list would go as follows: His notoriously informational draft guide/WWL Draft Fest coverage, the Manning Passing Academy, and the Louisiana Line Camp.

“The M&D Draft Report has become a spring staple for many rabid football fans around the world over the last 30 years, selling thousands of copies each year to places as far as Japan and Australia,” says a 2016 article highlighting the staggering impact of Mike’s draft guide. “The 200-page publication rates more than 700 college football prospects and features in-depth profiles on over 350 players.”

Mike D revealed that, every year, his 200-page guide would have to be boiled down from around 900 pages of initial analysis.

Over the decades, Detillier sold hundreds of thousands of copies that would inform, not just Louisiana or the nation, but the world of what they could expect from the upcoming NFL Draft.

Detillier would then carry his mountain of insights every year to WWL Airwaves to unleash them during the station’s annual 3-day Draft Fest, where he could offer fans cutting insights into the newest members of the Black and Gold family.

“I remember when we hired Saints legendary O-lineman Zach Strief to be our play-by-play analyst; he was in awe of how much Mike D knew off the top of his head about players entering the draft,” states Diane Newman. “Detillier made WWL's wall-to-wall NFL draft coverage grounded and easier. And Mike could do the same for high school players before signing day. Through Mike D’s work with Manning’s Passing Academy and Pete Jenkins’ Louisiana Line Camp, having Mike on our WWL staff is like having an in-house scout. That’s how that ‘Bayou Boy’ became an analyst who wasn’t just trusted and respected in our community, but around the country..

…

Detillier kept a firm grasp on the football talent pipeline through his devoted attendance to Louisiana’s premier high school training camps, like the Manning Passing Academy, where he would renew and deepen the well of football knowledge he held year-after-year.

“I’ve been to all but two of them,” Detillier said this year when interviewed about his history with Manning Passing Academy, an event that grew from a small, sparsely attended event in 1996 into a national powerhouse for sharpening the country’s most promising football talent before they become stars.

Some of the names to attend MPA over the years include (just to name a few): Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Matt Stafford, Jayden Daniels, Jalen Hurts, Jared Goff, Dak Prescott, Russell Wilson, Drake Maye, Cam Ward, Tyler Shough, Bryce Young, and Baker Mayfield.

Detillier authored a feature piece in 2025 about how the system based in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and led by Archie, Peyton, Eli, and Cooper Manning, managed to become one of the most highly sought-out programs for star high school athletes looking to take their talent to the next level.

“Last year, 2,567 high school athletes and over 340 counselors worked the three football camps at Nicholls State University: The Louisiana Line Camp, The Manning Passing Academy, and the Pro Football Camp.”

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for high school players in our region and from across the country to learn from the Manning’s, all the starting quarterbacks in college football, and former and current players who play along the offensive and defensive lines,” says longtime football coach Don Rodrigue. “You have coaches in the NFL here and players from the region who play pro football now and give back to the area, like Maason Smith, Amik Robertson, and Sai’Vion Jones, just to name a few. We had LSU’s Will Campbell here last summer to work with the offensive linemen, and he was just selected with the fourth overall pick in the entire draft by the New England Patriots.”

Detillier spoke with Archie Manning, who talked about the decision to keep MPA in South Louisiana.

“We got approached a few years back by the Disney folks to move the camp to Orlando, but Thibodaux was home for us,” Manning told Mike D. “Great folks. They treat us so well, and we all felt strongly the camp should stay in Louisiana.”

But Detillier’s insight didn’t stop at one end of the field. His obsession for defensive analysis is displayed in his tight-knit relationship with legendary defensive line coach Pete Jenkins, who co-founded the Louisiana Line Camp in 1987.

“The passion of those who lead the camp is certainly reflected in its growth,” Detillier wrote. “According to Jenkins, Louisiana Line Camp’s first year had between 85-90 campers. In 2024, 722 campers attended the camp. This year, over 755 campers pre-registered to participate.”

Jenkins explained the importance of the unique nature of the Louisiana Line Camp to Mike D: “We didn’t want this to be a recruiting camp, and it’s not one today… This is a teaching camp for getting high school players to hone their craft if they play along the offensive/ defensive line or play linebacker. We even have some tight ends involved with the camp.”

The many layers of Mike Detillier

Detillier’s ability to talk the talk is undisputed. But his expertise also comes from walking the walk. A former fullback and linebacker at Central Lafourche High School, Detillier carved out a love of football from an early age, and that love never left him. As he tended to it, it only grew stronger.

And while Detillier is so commonly recognized for his wealth of sports knowledge, with any passion he had, he spoke about doing it with “both feet in.”

Detillier also spent 29 years in the engineering world, studying aquatic engineering at Louisiana Tech and Sacramento State, and eventually took an engineering job for the State of Louisiana. As he navigated his profession, he never lost sight of his passions that spark that joie de vivre that’s so evident every time he speaks.

When he wasn’t busy meticulously scouting draft prospects, he enjoyed spending his time hunting and fishing on the Bayous, at home in Lafourche Parish perfecting his brisket recipe, and spending time with his wife, Linda, his daughters, Stephanie and Kimberly, or with his two Granddaughters, “the bosses,” Norah and Mia.

Linda and Mike DetillierWWL

In 2006, Sports Illustrated named a Cajun football analyst from Lafourche Parish the “Best Unknown Sports Voice in America.”

“The New Orleans Saints aren’t the only people receiving national recognition for their success this football season,” read a Houma Today column that dates back to December 28th, 2006. “NFL analyst and Raceland native Mike Detillier was called the ‘Best Unknown Voice’ by SportsIllustrated.com media columnist Richard Deitsch in his 2006 Media Awards on Wednesday.”

Deitsch’s column read: “With the Saints becoming America’s team, Detillier has become America’s sports-talk guest… Detillier’s bayou boosterism, engaging personality, and football chops make him an enjoyable listen for these East Coast ears.”

You could practically hear a collective laugh rise from the state of Louisiana: These damn Yankees… Mike Detillier? You mean ‘The Football Guy? The walking, ever-talking encyclopedia of every gridiron showdown in the Bayou State from Caddo to Calcasieu? … Unknown?

For decades leading up to 2006, the voice of Mike D wasn’t just known throughout nearly every football-obsessed household across Louisiana, SEC, and NFC South territory. It was respected, if not beloved.

“Bobby (Hebert) still gives me grief about that,” Detillier said in 2010. “He wonders how it took me over 20 years to be named best new radio voice in the country.”

…

In 2015, Houma Today published a questionnaire: “Meet Mike Detillier.”

One of the questions asked him to describe his dream job.

His response: “I think I’ve got it now: In sports, as a broadcaster.”

Mike Detillier’s job as a sports broadcaster on WWL may have come to an end, but he entered his final days with the same bravery and heart that he brought into the studio day-in and day-out for over four decades.

“Life throws you curveballs – it tackles you from left field,” Mike D told WWL after learning of his terminal cancer. “This is one I didn’t see coming. But, I know this: I’m a believer…in God…in family…in the goodness of people…and that football and sports are the great American healers. I just hope I get a seat in the press box in heaven… right next to Buddy D.”

WWL

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