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Anyone remember the posts on here during 2021 that Matt Deggs was the wrong choice to lead the program? He was losing games with his idiotic in-game decisions, and he was running off players and angering their parents.
Now we’re ranked in the Top 25 and possibly a 2 seed if we can win 2 out of 3 this weekend and hopefully win at least 2 games in the SBC tourney.
We haven’t been a 2 seed or higher since we hosted in 2016.
I think we’ve see Deggs mature and develop as a head coach in just a handful of year here.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cajunrunner
Maybe 2021 Deggs was “not the guy”, but 2024 Deggs is the guy.
I remember Robe being quoted in a press conference one year that we were playing Sam that everyone wanted to run Deggs off there first, but once he got his guys in there people saw he was the right guy. I think we can say almost the exact thing happened here. It’s just what happens. The good thing is, Deggs knows the type of guys he wants, and he’s proven he can go get them!
Most top tier alpha professionals improve their skill set over five years at Deggs' stage of his career. He is probably a better coach. He probably has a better staff than he started with. He probably is better at most things related to his job and I doubt he thinks he finished improving.
I am sure he expects this program to improve as long as he is around and just as confident he will leave it in better shape than he found it. CMD is a lock for Sun Belt Coach of the Year.
Sure, but the knee-jerk reaction just seemed absolutely weird, especially when you consider there wasn't really a 2020 season, and coming off the brutal 2019 season.Quote:
Originally Posted by BabbForHeisman
Look, we've all been wrong before. Even me once or twice, maybe even thrice, but it just seemed like the mantra from some during 2021 was Matt Deggs not only was the wrong choice, but he was running off players...and something that should rarely matter in D1 big boy sports, making parents upset.
Sometimes it's worth just stepping back and allowing someone, who has shown the ability to progress not just our program as an assistant coach, but even another program as a head coach, try to get his/her athletes and strategies worked in.
Seems now, we've been progressing each and every season, and this season has actually been a bit of a pleasant surprise because I wasn't sure what to expect after losing Brock and Roccaforte in the lineup at the plate.
I’ll give Deggs credit still for some terrible base running. Either players not coached up well enough or bad signs. But overall the program and the job Deggs is doing is great. We clean up base running mistakes we could be hosting this year.
PS I don’t want to start a discussion about it either. Can’t be great at everything and I except the frustrating base running mistakes due to being aggressive. Oh also, we could be a better bunting team overall. Or at least know who not to ask to bunt by now.
We don't have the speed or bunting skill of last year for sure. I'll take our record this year though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jacob81
I feel silly for even having to say I have firmly been in Deggs' camp, and I could be misremembering...but I don't remember too many people saying he wasn't the man for the job. The only times I've seen the board collectively jump on him was over the former hitting coach (not naming that beaten dead horse). I mean, sure there's a poster or two always calling for a coach's job on a fan board, but I feel like you're painting with a fairly broad brush.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cajunrunner
There were some Debbie downers despite 30+ wins in 21 and 22, who have all but disappeared.
Seems like an unnecessary thread to me. Do you need someone to acknowledge your "told you so" moment? I, for one, was not firmly in Deggs camp while he continued to have a certain someone on his staff. Today, I'm happy that he's running our program and hope to have him here for a long time.
acknowledgment is a virtue
He acknowledged that today. Last year's team at this time had 70 more walks than this lineup, but the power numbers are higher this year. He said unfortunately that is why we are scoring more runs on the road than at home. He said the Tigue is harder to drive the ball when the wind is blowing in during the home schedule.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dad04
There are a couple of other glaring stats; the lineup is hitting .390 when swinging at the first three pitches. The downside is the lineup is also hitting .150 with 2 strikes. The number that is no surprise is Debo has driven in 28 runs with 2 strikes in the count.
^^This right here.Quote:
Originally Posted by CajunRage
Besides a few of the regular complainers, I don't remember much outrage about Deggs.
In Deggs' last 4 seasons at Sam Houston State before coming to Louisiana:
- regular season conference champs 3 of 4 years (2016, 2018, 2019)
- conference tournament champs 2 of 4 years (2016, 2017)
- made it to a regional 2 of 4 years (2016, 2017)
- won an NCAA regional as a #3 seed (2017) and made it to super regional
- Southland Coach of the Year (2016)
- swept the Cajuns in a weekend series in 2019
He also never had a losing season as a head coach at Sam Houston State. So looking at all that, I don't see reason for many to complain. I do remember some folks on here starting to complain about Coach Robe and "the game passing him by" during the 2019 season (28-31).
Deggs hiring was definitely nothing like the outrage when Desormeaux was hired as head football coach.
GEAUX CAJUNS
Deggs’ teams will play “fast, hard and loose…and live with the results”
That’s how it’s always been and likely how it always will be.
Robe had a rough few years, people here wanted him fired.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cajunrunner
Someone once pointed out that most fans are nothing of the sort. They're not fans of the game, of the team, nor the players.
They just want to win every game, every sport, every year.
Fortunately, we have had coaches who have a deeper view of things, that we are not here to win, we're here to educate young people.
Including our players.
Fortunately, if you do that right, you win more than you should given your resources. Which is UL.
And my preceding is why I suspect Des will succeed. He focuses on the kids, and on mental discipline. That's who he was as a player.Quote:
Originally Posted by GreatestStory
And he was a beast.
Some here are way too impatient, and way too unrealistic about our situation and our resources. Our #1 asset is our culture, and I'm not taking about the way we talk, nor sauce piquant.
It's a culture of seeing people as people, and of looking at young people as resources who will serve our world for years to come.
And not as interchangeable, disposable vehicles for the public's need to win.
The Des talk is for a different threadQuote:
Originally Posted by CajunFun
……Just think of our base running with Bermuda pants and picking up the fastest guy on the trackQuote:
Originally Posted by Jacob81
Well, I’m one who always thought Deggs was a great coach, and still do.
That said, I am also one who thought he was not the best choice post-Robe, primarily because it felt like it was too much an emotional decision following the loss of Robe. I’ve been in a similar position when we lost our parent and we made some decisions based mostly on emotions which, let’s just say, we’re not the best things we could’ve done.
I always thought that Jake Gautreau from Moo St was the guy we should’ve gone with. Not only was he the asst coach of the year at that time, but he was much younger and he reminded very much of a Bill Napier-like choice, which I was certain that Maggard would make.
All that said (and I’m sure I’ll get blasted for having said it), I think Deggs is doing a great job, and I certainly have no regrets.
P.S. I am also kind of surprised Jake is still in the same spot he was in at the time. Thought someone would’ve picked him up by now…..maybe he is much like Napier….waiting for that perfect job.
I can definitely understand that take, and I would hope we reached out to other coaches (like Gautreau) before grabbing Deggs, just to go through the process. I’ve done that myself in my line of work. A recent person we hired into our department, I knew they would be a great fit when an opening occurred, but still went through the process of interviewing other candidates, though he/she was always the target Day 1.Quote:
Originally Posted by LaCajunsFan
Agreed….i’ve done the same thing myself in the hiring process.
I also want to clarify my earlier post: I am not saying that the deggs hire was a purely emotional one, I just think there were a lot of emotions involved in it. And you are right: for all we know they did interview Gautreau (or others) and maybe Deggs was the best option….or the others didn’t accept our offer.
And I’ll end again by saying that I have a tremendous amount of respect for Deggs both as a coach and person, and he sure seems like the right fit for us. Glad that all worked out so well for everyone involved.
I’d say that Coach Deggs was THE perfect guy for the job when Coach Robe passed away…because of the emotion. Ragin Cajun baseball is built on a certain culture that Coach Robe instilled and Coach Deggs continues to cultivate here.
AND Coach Deggs has been on record recently saying that he will not ever coach anywhere else but here, because of what UL and Coach Robe did for him. While some may say that is a negative, and want a young guy to come in and if he gets hired away that it’s a good thing…and it’s a valid point, but as we’ve seen with Napier, that success can go away quickly when he leaves.
Coach Deggs is providing that success himself, and he’s NOT going away. And I think we need to stop and think about what’s to come. With NIL and all of the things happening in college sports now, recruiting is more difficult than ever. All of the “showcase” kids with the big recruiting rankings aren’t likely to go anywhere outside of the SEC, ACC, and a few select other schools. A random one may end up at UL from time to time, but for those that listen to the things Coach Deggs says (and it goes to the point of Deggs having “his guys”), the recruits being brought in, for the most part, are a certain type. Strong kids, athletic kids, tough kids (a lot of former football players) that love to compete. They may not have the highest exit velo at the showcase, or the pretty swing that has scouts drooling, but guys that will have their face in the dirt and battle your ass until they outlast you, mentally and physically. Guys that are great teammates, and more worried about what their team can accomplish than what their draft stock is.
Those are the type of dudes that can win on the national stage at a program like UL. We have the right guy, and are lucky to have him. And I wouldn’t be surprised that once Coach Deggs has decided to step away that Gunner would be next in line to continue to cultivate the culture that is Ragin Cajuns baseball. These guys understand what it takes to compete and win on the national stage, while not having some of the advantages that the “elites” have.
Fun, there is so much in your post and I hope our fellow posters/readers really comprehend it. I know many do but I also know that some follow in what I will call the tsab group and that is unfortunate.Quote:
Originally Posted by CajunFun
But there is hope for them.
I hope.
Sometimes you don't hire the man you WANT, you hire the man you NEED. Deggs was the only man that fit this description at the time. He was the right hire to continue the culture the was built by Robe.
I think in sports like football and men’s basketball, programs like ours should seek the young, up and coming guy who wants to kill it here and be hired away to the SEC or Big 10. Not someone who just wants to be “comfortable”.Quote:
Originally Posted by sportsfanatic21
In baseball, though, like softball, those are programs where we have an established culture that has worked and been proven over time. Kind of like our track program under Coach Lancon from 1990 to 2002.