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Jeez, Mahfouz is fortunate that you don't hate him!Quote:
Originally Posted by cajun4life
Any specific reason(s) that you know of for him not being able to win as the track coach? No generalities, please. Be specific!!
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The face of the Sunbelt conference has shifted more towards the east since the Sunbelts inception. Charlie Lancon also could no longer win in the Sunbelt his last few years as the Cajuns head coach. Louisiana just does not provide enough athletes for us to be truly competitive in the Sunbelt. With the departure of Dick Booth and Coach Boo the track program began to decline. They had very strong contacts with coaches in foreign countries such as Jamaica and other islands that we had very good success at getting top tier athletes. We were nationally competitive during this time. Once Booth and Boo left Lancon recruited locally and did fairly well but did not win. Lance was a good track coach but he was not a good team manager or a guy who could go out and raise a lot of money to fund the program. We immediately fell to the back of the pack of the Sunbelt. UL then goes out and hires Steve Silvey, the greatest hire in the history of the track program. It showed a tremendous commitment towards the success of the track program. What the athletic department failed to take into account is his ego. He was a very hard person to work with and he demanded more support than they were willing to give. Silvey had a recruiting class that would have had the Cajuns in the top 3 in the conference as true freshman. More than likely he would have moved on after 3 or 4 years for more money, and higher profile school. We lost nearly all of the recruits that Silvey had committed to the program after he resigned. This brings me to where we are currently, UL went out and hired Mahfouz, while he does have a fair amount knowledge about track, the question is will he be able to recruit outside of Acadiana? I don't think he will do very well in the southeast Texas areas or in New Orleans. Acadiana does not have enough talent in the high school ranks to compete in the Sunbelt. Bottom line is we hired a high school coach to coach a major college sport. He does not have the resume supporting the hire much less the resume to even apply at the collegiate level. He is unproven as a recruiter and as a college coach. IMO there were plenty of candidates out there that UL could have and should have went after but did not. It is the same old ____ as always. A second rate effort for a second rate athletic program.Quote:
Originally Posted by CajunCharlie
Was that specific enough?Quote:
Originally Posted by CajunCharlie
In college, a coach is only as good as his assistants are....thus....Tommy Badon and Boo Schexnayder...end of story. Coach was Lanc was like a surrogate father to me; I could write a book about him...but Boo Schexnayder was the reason I came to UL years ago, just like other throwers, jumpers, and decs did and just the same...the sprinters came to UL for Badon.Quote:
Originally Posted by cajun4life
COMMENT: There is a vast difference between your definition of "great hires" and mine. GREAT in my book includes coaches who have a recruiting class that doesn't include ONE EVENT full scholarshipers, among others, (which winning programs NEVER offer and ANYBODY offering that money can sign) and does NOT include any number of signees who go to church each Sunday praying that minimum ACT scores will be drastically lowered so they can become "true freshmen" and enter a certain southwest Louisiana university. As for a three to four year tour and off for more money, that may be a stretch, as there will have not been sufficient numbers of shrinks in the area to handle three or more recruiting classes needing specialized mental healthcare.Quote:
Originally Posted by cajun4life
The greatest hire in the history of the track program at UL? Nahhhh! Far from it.
On another note, we agree that a better effort to select a new coach should have been made. This begs of a new athletic administration retreating from one year ago to move the program ahead. Perhaps their less than favorable attempt left a bad taste and has them retreating to "one and done." Aside from the Opelousas-Eunice-Hwy. 190 Corridor, recruiting will be difficult on this watch, especially if any Silvey assistant coaches stay on. Indians in this teepee lack a blood line needed to build upon and lack needed experience and to move this program toward Sun Belt (or Louisiana) dominance. Additionally, there are other issues that make this a "not so good" move that will prove to bite UL in the posterior---AGAIN. Aside from that, and while we speak, McNeese is building a program quickly and will be #3 overall behind LSU and LA TECH for at least the next four or five years and with that success to build on, their prominance will go beyond those years. Monroe, Northwestern State and Southeastern have aggressive programs and will rank ahead of us consistently and Tulane's women are building bigtime. Gee that places us at least #7 in men's and women's track in Louisiana for the foreseeable future and doomed to stay there. That's Louisiana. It will be even worse in the Sun Belt.
Let' go football and basketball. Maybe then we will have something there to rave about on the RAGE PAGES.
Obviously specific enough for you!!Quote:
Originally Posted by cajun4life
So, I will leave this discussion. You have obviously made up your mind that if Mahfouz is hired ( I use if because I have not seen anything that substantiates his being hired) it will be a bad decision. Nothing that I offer, unless it agrees with your position, will be considered. So, au revoir et bon chance!!
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It is not about Mahfouz, it is about his qualifications. Mahfouz knows track, but his resume should not even get him an interview at the DIVISION 1 level.Quote:
Originally Posted by CajunCharlie
Lets say that you are a business owner who is searching for a candidate to hire for a sales position. Are you going to hire your distant cousin who sold bolts at ACE or will you go out and actively search for the best qualified candidate that meets the requirements?
UL consistantly hires coaches who are not qualified to coach in a full D1 conference.
probably too specific, and certainly WAY too frank for most denizens of this forum. oh, well, don't ask the question if you don't want to know the answer.Quote:
Originally Posted by cajun4life
http://www.ragincajuns.com/ViewArtic...ATCLID=1482173
LAFAYETTE- Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns named Charlie Mahfouz the new head track coach. His hiring is pending approval by the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors.
Mahfouz will begin his new post effective July 1, 2008.
Mahfouz spent the 2007-08 season as a coach for the men's and women's track and field programs working with the javelin, sprints and hurdles. While coaching at UL, Mahfouz helped three Ragin' Cajuns qualify for the 2008 NCAA Division I Mideast Outdoor Track and Field Regional.
Roderick Houston qualified in both the 100 and 200 meters. Stacey Fuller and Taryn Simmons each qualified in the 400-meter hurdles.
Mahfouz helped Fuller clock a 52.47 in the 400-meter hurdles at the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships to be crowned conference champion.
Simmons, a true freshman, posted a time of 1:00.20 in the 400-meter hurdles at the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships to set a new school record.
“Coach Charlie Mahfouz brings a wealth of knowledge and success to our track program,” said UL athletic director David Walker.
“He is committed to ensuring that our student-athletes succeed not only in track and field but also in the classroom. We must build our track program with student-athletes that can be academically successful and Coach Mahfouz is committed to that challenge.
“We are very excited that Coach Mahfouz has agreed to return to his alma mater and lead our track program.”
Mahfouz is a 1975 University of Louisiana graduate with a B.A. in Science & Education. His ties to Cajuns track date back to the Charles Lancon era, as Mahfouz credits the Cajuns coaching legend, as well as Leon Johnson, with his success in coaching.
Prior to UL, Mahfouz coached in the state of Louisiana for 18 years. During his high school coaching career, Mahfouz won six Louisiana state championships.
He began his career as the head track coach at Eunice High School from 1983-92. Mahfouz led the Bobcats to five St. Landry Parish and district championships, while capturing three regional and Class 3A state titles in 1990, 1991 and 1992.
After spending nine years in Eunice, Mahfouz headed east to Opelousas High where he guided the Tigers to a St. Landry Parish championship in each of his nine seasons. His squads also captured six district and five regional crowns.
In his inaugural season at OHS, his Tigers squad finished as the Class 4A runner-up in 1994. His program would later capture three straight state championships from 1998-2000.
Mahfouz coached Ubeja Anderson, a high school All-American in the 110-meter hurdles. He is the state composite record holder with a time of 13.75 in the 110-meter discipline. He later became the national indoor champion in the 55-meter hurdles.
In addition to Anderson, Mahfouz also coached Tommy Fay and Jacques Prudhomme. Fay, a four-year letterwinner at UL from 1993-96, won the 110-meter hurdle state championship during his prep career at Eunice High.
Like Fay, Prudhomme, the 800-meter state champion at Eunice, was a four-year letterwinner at UL from 1993-96.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cajun4life
Well, the UL athletic website is now reporting that Mahfouz is the new UL Track Coach. Let's find out about his qualifications and how he will restore the glory to our track program.