Gerald Edward Waguespack (The Band)

[cajun67]

I just heard that Dr. Waguespack, who I believe was assistant to Dr. Brian Taylor - band director, has died. Also undertand that Dr. Taylor has resigned as Band Director. Thoughts and prayers for Dr. Waguespack and his family and best wishes for Dr. Taylor in his new role. Difficult time for band members, certainly.

[Zeebart21]

I just heard that Dr. Waguespack, who I believe was assistant to Dr. Brian Taylor - band director, has died. Also undertand that Dr. Taylor has resigned as Band Director. Thoughts and prayers for Dr. Waguespack and his family and best wishes for Dr. Taylor in his new role. Difficult time for band members, certainly.

Been knowing Wag since 1972.. A fine man and terrific teacher. RIP

Z

[Hammer58]

Been knowing Wag since 1972.. A fine man and terrific teacher. RIP

Z

Didn't know him but if Z vouches for him he must have been alright. Condolences to his family.

[NOCajun]

I remember meeting Wag back when I first started marching POA and Wag was the band director at Acadiana. He will be missed by many. All my prayers go out to his family.

[MetryCajun]

Been knowing Wag since 1972.. A fine man and terrific teacher. RIP

Z

That is an understatement. Most people will never touch as many lives in a positive way as he did. He will be missed.

[cajunfan337]

Sorry for the bands loss. I'm sure a beautiful tribute to him will happen this year for him at one of our halftimes

[Boomer]

Well who is the heir apparent??? Brock are you or any of our guys up to the task???

[BrockMeaux]

I was really sad to hear of Dr. Wag's passing this afternoon. He impacted hundreds of lives teaching in the area for over 3 decades, and he will be missed. He was a great teacher, and an even better man. I can't overstate how much he meant for music education in South Louisiana. He influenced generations of future educators and leaders by his great example.

As far as for Dr. Taylor's position, from what I understand, he's leaving at the end of this semester, but due to the amount of time it will take to conduct a search and find a replacement (which can't start until after he's officially left), the basic plan is for grad students to run the marching band in the fall until a full-time, doctoral level replacement can be hired. Word I've heard is that they would like to hire whoever the marching band equivalent of Coach Hud is; that is, somebody young and energetic (with a doctorate) that's currently paying their dues as an assistant at an SEC-level program. That probably won't be easy to find so I'm expecting it to take some time. All that said, I also want to thank Dr. Taylor for everything he's done here. He was the marching band and basketball band director while I was in school, and he was always a great director that definitely helped put the university's name out there as much as anybody not named Hud. He had the band perform on national TV twice at Macy's and once recently on WWE Monday Night Raw, as well as internationally, taking the group on trips to Spain, Scotland, and London. I'll forever be grateful for everything both those men did for me and for the university as a whole.

[bjc6267]

It's a shame the band is losing both Wag & BT at the same time. Both had a tremendous impact on the lives of many in the UL community and will definitely be missed. This was one of the best years for UL's band that I can remember (Macy's, WWE, Saints Game, tremendous numbers, and the best sounding band that we have had in a long time).

I love the idea of a band Hud concept. With marching band though, you are not limited to SEC for regional purposes. Their are a lot of exciting band programs outside of the SEC that could have some excellent up & comers.

With Southern on the home schedule, we will definitely need the UL band to bring their A+ game to keep up.

[CajunZ1]

So sorry to here about Wag... He was the man!