The crap-shoot that is collegiate football recruiting had to be even tougher for UL's football program five seasons ago.
The Cajuns were in turmoil as a team, with Jerry Baldwin fired following the 2001 season and the squad winning only six games out of 33 starts the previous three years. New head coach Rickey Bustle kept only three holdovers from the previous year's coaching staff, and none of the new coaches had backgrounds anywhere close to UL, Louisiana or the Gulf South.
Big changes also were afoot in philosophy. UL's offense was morphing from a wide-open spread attack, one that featured four wideouts, to more of a pro-style attack. The defensive facelift included a change to a multiple eight-man front.
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com