The Book: 2003 Football

[Turbine]

Originally posted by cajun tom
what is new concerning the football team

Welcome to raginpagin Cajun Tom.

Lets see, coach Bailey left and is replaced by coach Jennings

Spring practice starts in a couple of weeks that will be fun.

I am anxious to see the JC transfers and high school signees who enrolled early.

Babb going in as #1 wil be interesting as well.

[NewsCopy]

LAFAYETTE — Rickey Bustle has his priorities in order as he begins his second spring practice as Louisiana’s head football coach.

Bustle, whose Ragin’ Cajuns finished 3-9 in 2002, gets back to the practice field at 2 p.m. today, with an eye toward making progress before the April 12 Cajun Bowl spring game.

Progress should be easier for Bustle to achieve after a year spent acclimating himself to his new coaching staff and to the personnel on hand, progress that began with an intense offseason weight program for the Cajuns.

“The No. 1 thing we want to do in the spring is to make sure we have players in the right positions,” Bustle said. “We’ve got some junior college players coming in this fall who we figure will play, so we won’t put people there.

“We’ve talked a lot about personnel this offseason.”

One move of note is shifting D’Anthony Batiste from the offensive line to defensive tackle. Also, Johnny Felders is being switched from cornerback to free safety.

The rest of the story

South Louisiana Publishing
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

LAFAYETTE — Jon Van Cleave is gone. Erik Rekieta is mending from injury.

That leaves a pair of former St. Thomas More standouts getting all the attention at quarterback today as Louisiana begins spring football drills.

Junior squadman Matt Lane and redshirt freshman Jerry Babb will get every chance to grasp coach Rickey Bustle’s offense and show they can operate it before the April 12 Cajun Bowl.

“Erik won’t go through spring with us,” Bustle said of Rekieta, who stepped in for Van Cleave often enough in 2002 to hit 65-of-113 passes for 652 yards and 4 touchdowns.

“He’s still rehabbing from the surgery on his elbow, and then the other day he got his hand slammed in a car door and broke his little finger. When he gets healthy, he’s obviously in the mix.”

For now, though, the job falls to two players who didn’t attempt a pass last season.

“We’ll start Jerry out with the first group,” Bustle said, “and Matt will be with the second group. They’re both more athletic than we had, and we’ll let our quarterbacks be more involved.

The rest of the story

South Louisiana Publishing
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[snote]

been meaning to answer your question.. yes.. the picture does look like jon.. bil(ly)

ps. and now a question (smiling)..did you scare cajun tom away?

[Zeebart21]

did you catch any fish??

Z.

[snote]

Originally posted by Zeebart21
did you catch any fish??

thanks for asking... oh what a fish.. although, in honor of don.. i ascertained 15 lbs of crawfish from Sonny's, for the chance i might not have and got hungry..(smiling)..

fishing at the river still somewhat slow.. nothing friday but early saturday at least there were some nibbles and about 8 put in my chest.. now i am only fishing off my camp dock.. my dad wasn't, so i also, was never a boat guy.. (although, i certainly do like people that have a boat...smiles) and i am only a cricket/worm type guy..

i did bring back the biggest catfish i have ever caught.. (pausing now in my typing to go measure it.. be back shortly).. to truly make this a true fishing tale..

whoaa.. it is twenty-one (21)inches long.. this to a guy like me, is a shark.. the other 7 together might not measure that length.. heck.. we may paint him green and take pictures tommorrow (smiles)

[CajunGuru]

Guru’s Recruiting Evaluation
DB’s and LB’S


In today’s evaluation, we will look at both the DB and LB positions. In keeping with this years theme of recruiting for immediate needs and building for the future, the DB signees achieve both.

The Cajuns will try and replace two prime time DB’s in Charles Tillman and Taylor. Both will be playing on Sunday this year. Coach Bustle and staff went out and signed three JC DB recruits to fill this immediate need.

Antwain Spann and Ricky Thomas are considered the jewels in this group. Spann was Miss. JC All-State and All-Region. He was also the MVP of the Miss. JC All-Star game this past year. Spann is consider the better coverage corner of the two and has solid speed with a 4.4 40-yard dash. If you want speed and then some, Thomas is your man. Thomas was All-State in track in high School and is very fast with a 4.3 40-yard dash. He scored seven career TD’s by punt and kick-off return or interceptions. He is not as polished as Spann in coverage, but is working on his techniques during spring. C.C.

Brown is the other JC Signee and is considered very solid. Brown at 6-2,205 played close to the line a lot in the defense he played in at JC. He is considered a good tackler, but he will need to work on his coverage to help the Cajuns this year.

Lamar Morgan is considered the diamond of the Cajuns high school DB signees. Such schools as Houston, Georgia Tech And Arkansas recruited Morgan. He chose the Cajuns after committing to Georgia Tech. How often can the Cajuns really say that about any signee. Morgan has great range and totaled 124 tackles, seven int’s and three fumble recoveries in his senior season. He was named Texas All-State and All-Region.

Another DB signee that is considered solid is Torres Kingsby. Kingsby did not get a lot of ink in Haynesville, but is very fast with a 4.3 40-yard dash. Kingsby was named All-State his senior year. Both Jarrett Jones and Michael Adams are good athletes, but will need time to develop.

2003 DB SIGNEES

DB Michael Adams 5-8 170 (Dallas Tex. J.F.Kimball)
DB C.C. Brown 6-2 205 ( Miss. Delta JC)
DB Jarrett Jones 6-0 185 (New Orleans, Karr)
DB Torres Kingsby 5-10 180 (Haynesville,La.)
DB Lamar Morgan 6-2 185 (Copperas Cove, Tex.)
DB Antwain Spann 6-0 185 (Gulf Coast Miss. JC)
DB Ricky Thomas 6-0 197 (Butler JC, Kansas)

2003 LB SIGNEES

LB Tre’ Green 6-0 215 (Bastrop, La.)
LB Mark Risher 6-2 225 (STM, Lafayette, La.)
LB Joe Scott 6-3 235 (Pearl River JC. Miss.)


Coach Bustle and his staff went out during recruiting and looked to add depth to the LB position. With most of the returning starters and reserves returning, the staff wanted to sign and develop a few athletes at the LB position.

Joe Scott is a solid addition and is a true middle linebacker at 6-3, 235 lbs. Scott originally signed with Southern Miss. Out of high school and transferred after one year to JC because of academics.

Tre Green and Mark Risher are the two high school signees, with Green being the more highly thought of out of the two. Green is very fast with a 4.57 40-yard dash and he played LB, safety And defensive end. Green will concentrate on the OLB position as he redshirts this year. Risher comes from the very solid program of Saint Thomas More high in Lafayette. He was very active on the field during his prep career with a high school record of 335 tackles during his time on the grid. Risher will also redshirt a year and learn the defense. Later this week I cover the offense side of the ball.

[cajun037]

LOOKING FOR SOME OF YOU GUYS THAT WENT TO WATCH SATURDAY'S FOOTBALL PRACTICE. HOW DID THE TEAM LOOK AND WERE THERE ANY PLAYERS THAT LOOKED GOOD IN PRACTICE? LOOKING FORWARD TO ANY REPORTS YOU MIGHT HAVE! THANKS

[Cajun1997]

Good question, I did not get to go either and would love to know how it went. I should be able to go Friday.

[CajunCharlie]

I did not make the practice, but I spoke to some of the coaches. They said the first practice was great, and that we have some good talent on the squad. They said the guys had a spring in their step that was lacking last year, and had a good handle on what the coaches expected. The coaches sounded extremely enthused.