Originally Posted by
Just1More
Many who comment on Viator and McNeese's recruiting have looked to a few extremes in both directions. They have recruited some of the same players and they have been able to take some athletes we would not/cannot take (accept). However, as CajunT pointed out in a very good discussion regarding recruiting, you cannot talk about a program and their current coach's recruiting ability without looking at the program itself. Notre Dame recruits on "Notre Dame"... not the coach. And that was also the case with your other coaching mentions. The school itself drew the recruits when those guys moved up.
At UL, we have to depend on the coach's recruiting ability... above the football reputation of the university. We, UL, are not currently bragging about our recruiting. We need to elevate it significantly. One of those significant elevations is to get the 3 star and an occasional 4 star player from our area. I'm not saying Viator cannot do that... but he has not done that at McNeese... and he will not have a tradition at UL to break that streak.
I think he'd probably be a fine coach. He would get some good talent. But again... UL needs to find a way to recruit "exceptional talent", above what we are now.
I don't know who we will end up with as our next coach. But, most fans were aiming, with the increased money, to not only seek out a coach with a very good track record as a coach (for the money we have) but also a name that draws that higher to reach recruit (for the money we have).
The maximum logical outcomes (for the money we have) is a 50/50, 75/25, or 25/75 guy in those two aforementioned categories... by credentials. Personally, as much as I have heard Matt Viator is an outstanding person... he is probably a 35/35 in those two categories for UL... by his credentials.
Who we hire and where they "credential out"... we shall see.