Yannick Cahuzac’s first season as RC Lens head coach will be played out on two demanding fronts: the Champions League calendar and the final stretch of his professional coaching qualification. The newly appointed Lens manager is completing the BEPF this season, with nine course sessions, an overseas placement and a dissertation still to complete.
Lens have discussed the workload with the French Football Federation in an effort to fit Cahuzac’s studies around the club’s commitments. Even with those arrangements, the Corsican coach will need to leave the training ground for several days each month while he pursues the Brevet d’Entraîneur Professionnel de Football.
International break eases the first issue
The next BEPF session falls during the international break, allowing Cahuzac to attend without disrupting Lens preparations. He is due in Sochaux from Monday evening until Thursday lunchtime next week for his fourth course block, centred on communication.
The more difficult clash arrives in October. A course session at Clairefontaine is scheduled from 13 to 15 October, while Lens are set to host Sporting CP in the Champions League on 13 October at 18:45.
Cahuzac is expected to receive exceptional permission to follow the classes remotely on the day of the Sporting fixture, enabling him to remain with his squad for the European match.
A season of course absences ahead
The Lens coach must complete 12 BEPF sessions in total. Beyond the October gathering, his remaining course commitments are scheduled as follows:
- 17-19 November in Rodez;
- 15-17 December at Clairefontaine;
- 19-21 January at Clairefontaine;
- 16-18 February in Toulouse;
- 23-25 March in Lyon;
- 20-22 April in Troyes;
- 18-21 May at Clairefontaine.
The February session could create another sporting problem. It coincides with the first leg of the Champions League play-off round, should Lens reach that stage of the competition.
In addition to the classroom blocks, Cahuzac must complete a one-week placement abroad and submit a dissertation next spring before finishing the diploma process.
A heavier burden for Lens’s new number one
Other coaches have worked through the BEPF while employed by clubs involved in the Champions League in recent years. Lilian Nalis, formerly part of Lens’s staff and now at Rennes, and Julien Lachuer, previously an assistant at Brest before becoming a head coach, both completed the qualification while in post.
Neither, however, carried the full responsibility of being the first-team manager. Cahuzac’s promotion has therefore made an already crowded campaign considerably more complex, with Lens needing to manage his study absences alongside the demands of domestic football and Europe.
