The Book CC Track & Field 2007-08

[Just1More]

_ _

Jay, please explain the application of these definitions. If you are referring to Silvey, would that be in the context of Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, Bobby Knight egocentrism? He may not sport their achievements, but neither did they in the early years. Could it be that he disrupted the serenity of Martin Hall... and maybe should have? I'm just asking.

Did he possess that unfriendly overzealous desire to achieve greatness? I would like to know, because that might tilt this debate on Silvey into a different arena. We won't come to any consensus on this forum, but when has a good topic ever involved consensus?

The murky layer on the subject of coaches is always whether we would accept an a-hole who brings abundant wins, or whether we expect and require to achieve success with a "nice guy/gal" coach who the admin, fans and media maintain a likeability factor with. All would prefer the latter, but is that always reasonable? The thing that bothers me at UL is that we almost always seem to aspire to hire nice guy/gal coaches, often at the expense of wins. It makes it really comfortable for the admin, but is this possible, practical, all of the time? Should we as fans even allow it? Is it possible for an admin to take on the oversight of a egomaniac coach, suffer the tension, and simply enjoy the expected/demanded "or else" success?

Unfortunately, I have had these discussions with others at times of massive alcohol consumption, and although we are quite sure we converged on an ideal solution, post unconscious sober thought interrupted and all meaningful concepts were lost. I have suggested many times that we employ scribes, but this has always gotten dismissed during the collection of funds at the build-up to the beer run.

[cajuntrack]

okay i will set everything straight for everyone who is arguing back and forth about the reason OUR coach is gone? yes, that is right, I am a current athlete on this team.
it is NOT because of any of these things that you people are bickering about. the administration should not have any blame whatsoever. THE ADMINISTRATION DOES CARE about the track program. This guy, yes it a great coach but have you actually spoken with this man and actually spent a day with him?? i guess not because all of you would know what kind of person he is. he has VERBALLY put us down this whole season. having your coach tell you that he doesn't care about you is kind of a big deal. we have been told this a multiple of times. all he care about is HIS status and how many championships that he has won. THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW! i can recall him making a comment on how embarrassed he is of having us as his team. your supposed to be building a team not breaking it down. okay...those 28 national championships that he credited himself for were not 90% under HEAD COACHING STATUS. yes he has disciplined us, made us better, bought us new equipment, improved our facility, signed top performing athletes but has he shown us RESPECT?? NO NO NO! now let me tell you something about funding... the university GAVE him what he wanted and SPENT ALL THE MONEY! yes people, he SPENT ALL THE MONEY! When he doesn't get his way, you can compare him to a 2yr old toddler. WE all have seen it. ALL IN ALL, we as a team are extremely excited of his departure! we want a coach that cares about US and OUR success. NOT A COACH THAT CARES ABOUT HIS OWN! and don't come back in reponse to this about how much of a great coach he is and stuff that he has done for us and yada yada yada... but he is what he is and that is why this WAS his FIRST head coaching job in 20years. so stop blaming the admininstration. He brought this upon himself and the administration wasn't having it. WE ARE BETTER OFF! From news that is travelling throughout the team, a better and respected coach is in the works and we are happy and we are all aware of his accomplishments!

[Just1More]

Thanks Cajuntrack... glad to get your perspective. Maybe, all in all, this guy needed to go... but I still do not understand how he had such a significant history and yet this admin didn't know his personality characteristics (totally self-absorbed and shows no respect for the athletes?). What kind of background research do they do?

Sounds like "good riddance"... but that does not completely exonerate this admin.

[DestinCajun]

okay i will set everything straight for everyone who is arguing back and forth about the reason OUR coach is gone? yes, that is right, I am a current athlete on this team.
it is NOT because of any of these things that you people are bickering about. the administration should not have any blame whatsoever. THE ADMINISTRATION DOES CARE about the track program. This guy, yes it a great coach but have you actually spoken with this man and actually spent a day with him?? i guess not because all of you would know what kind of person he is. he has VERBALLY put us down this whole season. having your coach tell you that he doesn't care about you is kind of a big deal. we have been told this a multiple of times. all he care about is HIS status and how many championships that he has won. THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW! i can recall him making a comment on how embarrassed he is of having us as his team. your supposed to be building a team not breaking it down. okay...those 28 national championships that he credited himself for were not 90% under HEAD COACHING STATUS. yes he has disciplined us, made us better, bought us new equipment, improved our facility, signed top performing athletes but has he shown us RESPECT?? NO NO NO! now let me tell you something about funding... the university GAVE him what he wanted and SPENT ALL THE MONEY! yes people, he SPENT ALL THE MONEY! When he doesn't get his way, you can compare him to a 2yr old toddler. WE all have seen it. ALL IN ALL, we as a team are extremely excited of his departure! we want a coach that cares about US and OUR success. NOT A COACH THAT CARES ABOUT HIS OWN! and don't come back in reponse to this about how much of a great coach he is and stuff that he has done for us and yada yada yada... but he is what he is and that is why this WAS his FIRST head coaching job in 20years. so stop blaming the admininstration. He brought this upon himself and the administration wasn't having it. WE ARE BETTER OFF! From news that is travelling throughout the team, a better and respected coach is in the works and we are happy and we are all aware of his accomplishments!

Thanks to you and to Houndoggy for bringing the only sanity I could find in this entire thread.

Folks, the sooner this topic is put to bed the better for all of us.

And like Forrest, that's all I have to say about that.

[CajunT]

_ Thanks to you and to Houndoggy for bringing the only sanity I could find in this entire thread.

Folks, the sooner this topic is put to bed the better for all of us.

And like Forrest, that's all I have to say about that. _

Destin, I think there two sides to every story. I'm not going to knock any athlete on scholarship and they have a right to tell their side. That being stated, the prisoners don't run the asylum. Every coach should have some say in which athletes he wants to build the program around. Coach Lee was allowed to do it, coach Robicheaux does it yearly.

[cajun4life]

okay i will set everything straight for everyone who is arguing back and forth about the reason OUR coach is gone? yes, that is right, I am a current athlete on this team.
it is NOT because of any of these things that you people are bickering about. the administration should not have any blame whatsoever. THE ADMINISTRATION DOES CARE about the track program. This guy, yes it a great coach but have you actually spoken with this man and actually spent a day with him?? i guess not because all of you would know what kind of person he is. he has VERBALLY put us down this whole season. having your coach tell you that he doesn't care about you is kind of a big deal. we have been told this a multiple of times. all he care about is HIS status and how many championships that he has won. THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW! i can recall him making a comment on how embarrassed he is of having us as his team. your supposed to be building a team not breaking it down. okay...those 28 national championships that he credited himself for were not 90% under HEAD COACHING STATUS. yes he has disciplined us, made us better, bought us new equipment, improved our facility, signed top performing athletes but has he shown us RESPECT?? NO NO NO! now let me tell you something about funding... the university GAVE him what he wanted and SPENT ALL THE MONEY! yes people, he SPENT ALL THE MONEY! When he doesn't get his way, you can compare him to a 2yr old toddler. WE all have seen it. ALL IN ALL, we as a team are extremely excited of his departure! we want a coach that cares about US and OUR success. NOT A COACH THAT CARES ABOUT HIS OWN! and don't come back in reponse to this about how much of a great coach he is and stuff that he has done for us and yada yada yada... but he is what he is and that is why this WAS his FIRST head coaching job in 20years. so stop blaming the admininstration. He brought this upon himself and the administration wasn't having it. WE ARE BETTER OFF! From news that is travelling throughout the team, a better and respected coach is in the works and we are happy and we are all aware of his accomplishments!

I will not argue with you about his credits as a coach or how he treats athletes, I would just like to know if you feel as though 90% of the athletes currently on scholarship for track would be on scholarship at any other school in the Sun Belt? I see the results at meets and they are very bleak, I will not doubt that the majority of your team mates work hard on the track and in the classroom but most of them are not college athletes based on previous performances. I do not condone constant criticism and berating of an individual but if you can not compete at the college level you do not deserve a scholarship. It would not be tolerated in any sport aside from track. Robe can pull scholarships, Softball same deal, as well as all other sports besides Track. A coach needs to be allowed to run his/her program the way they see fit as long as it is not breaking NCAA rules.

[uslsp]

okay i will set everything straight for everyone who is arguing back and forth about the reason OUR coach is gone? yes, that is right, I am a current athlete on this team.
it is NOT because of any of these things that you people are bickering about. the administration should not have any blame whatsoever. THE ADMINISTRATION DOES CARE about the track program. This guy, yes it a great coach but have you actually spoken with this man and actually spent a day with him?? i guess not because all of you would know what kind of person he is. he has VERBALLY put us down this whole season. having your coach tell you that he doesn't care about you is kind of a big deal. we have been told this a multiple of times. all he care about is HIS status and how many championships that he has won. THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW! i can recall him making a comment on how embarrassed he is of having us as his team. your supposed to be building a team not breaking it down. okay...those 28 national championships that he credited himself for were not 90% under HEAD COACHING STATUS. yes he has disciplined us, made us better, bought us new equipment, improved our facility, signed top performing athletes but has he shown us RESPECT?? NO NO NO! now let me tell you something about funding... the university GAVE him what he wanted and SPENT ALL THE MONEY! yes people, he SPENT ALL THE MONEY! When he doesn't get his way, you can compare him to a 2yr old toddler. WE all have seen it. ALL IN ALL, we as a team are extremely excited of his departure! we want a coach that cares about US and OUR success. NOT A COACH THAT CARES ABOUT HIS OWN! and don't come back in reponse to this about how much of a great coach he is and stuff that he has done for us and yada yada yada... but he is what he is and that is why this WAS his FIRST head coaching job in 20years. so stop blaming the admininstration. He brought this upon himself and the administration wasn't having it. WE ARE BETTER OFF! From news that is travelling throughout the team, a better and respected coach is in the works and we are happy and we are all aware of his accomplishments!

I been watching you all since I finished and every year the level of talent has dropped. We have gone from conference champs to nowhere in the picture. I'm sorry but maybe none of you on the team are good enough. I read the conference standings maybe you should to. How many points did we score last year or the year before, etc. I think you all just want it easy like when veazey was there. A coach has to get results or he will be fired (resigned), look at coach veazey. He became too lax, I told him long ago get tougher on the team. People expected more from the program. As for that other coach, if it is who I think it is, it will get worse. In your minds anyway.

[RaginCajunPie]

First of all...I dont know the coach at all, so I won't make a judgement call on his personality or speculate about if he was the God-send for the Track program.

What I do want to comment on is the "The administration won't let him cut a scholarship athlete" issue. That one raises a BIG red flag to me. First of all....the NCAA, not UL, does not let a coach cut a scholarship athlete in the middle of a school academic year unless that athlete has rendered him/herself ineligible to compete (failed drug test, arrested, kicked out of school). The NCAA states that you can NOT take away a scholarship for any athletic reason whatsoever (doesn't compete well, doesn't place, etc) or even because of broken team rules (caught drinking, skipping study hall, etc). So, IF (I said IF) Silvey wanted to cut a kid's scholarship right now, mid-semester...the administration did the right thing. In fact, they did the ONLY thing they could have...their choices were tell the coach no or commit an NCAA violation (and we all know we SSSOOOO don't need any more of those!)

Now, a coach can cut a kid from an athletic scholarship in the summer by not renewing his scholarship for the next academic school year. But...I've never heard of a coach making that decision until well into the summer (in fact, most coaches have to be almost forced to turn in their final roster and scholarship decisions because they still aren't sure by the deadline), much less make that decision before the season is even over. In fact, again...you CAN'T make that decision before the summer. The NCAA is really strict about NOT telling a kid that you are going to cut their scholarship while the semester is going.

For instance, once a coach wanted to tell a kid that he was cutting him in the middle of the semester. The coach's reasoning was that he really liked the kid and wanted him to be able to try to find another team that would take him. The coach thought if he waited until the summer, all rosters would be full and the kid wouldn't have a place to go. It sounded reasonable to me, so I contacted the NCAA to "clear" it. The NCAA person I talked to seemed empathetic and said it sounded reasonable to him, but he wanted to run it by the "board" that made official interpretations. When we got the official NCAA response, it was a big, fat no. Their reasoning was that it might start a slippery slope of coaches who would use future scholarships as punishment or bribery. They sited TRACK and baseball coaches as being the worst "offenders" of this because they can bribe kids by increasing or punish by decreasing in any scholarship amount (while football, basketball, and others are all-or-nothing scholarship teams). Can you imagine being 18 and knowing that you family is struggling financially to put you through college and having a coach that "promises" if you hit 300 home runs or run the 40 under 3 seconds that he will increase your scholarship from $200 to a full ride for the next four years ($80,000 -- well over $100,000)? Can you imagine the pressure on that kid? One of the biggest issues the NCAA is combatting right now is the SKYROCKETING cases of severe depression caused by stress in college athletes. No wonder they want to squash this kind of coaching using scholarships as rewards / punishments.

So...I don't know the details of the situation...but the fact that this issue was brought up in the middle of the semester / season as a reason the "administration wasn't backing the coach" just seems crazy to me. HUGE, HUGE, HUGE red flags going up in my mind.

[Turbine]

_ First of all...

No one here has the insight you do.

As far as I am concerned case closed.

Admin off the hook.

jmo

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana Scout has attained a copy of track coach Steve Silvey’s letter of complaint and resignation in an effort to bring to light the reason for departure of what was considered to be one of the university’s most celebrated coaching hires. In the following letter to Athletic Director David Walker, Coach Silvey alleges the lack of institutional support, honesty during the hiring process and a culture of apathy in the athletic department led to his resignation. In the past, other coaches such as former football coach Jerry Baldwin, softball coach Yvette Girouard and soccer coach Dave Poggi have publicly made similar statements. Our hope at Louisiana Scout is that this letter will open dialogue with the administration to address concerns of Cajun Fans that there is a plan in place to move athletics forward at the Division One level. April 7th, 2008 Mr. David Walker Director of Athletics The University of Louisiana 201 Reinhardt Drive Lafayette, LA 70506 Dear Mr. Walker: In the past few months I have felt compelled to reconsider my decision to accept the position of Head Track & Field Coach at the University of Louisiana – Lafayette. When I accepted this position it was under the impression that the goal of the current administration was two-fold: 1) Change the caliber of student-athlete recruited to UL 2) Raise the Track & Field program to the level it once held Quite honestly I have come to a feeling of frustration beyond any I have ever felt before. I feel in trying to reach those objectives I have had a battle every step of the way. For example, I am expected to keep athletes in the program who have low academic and athletic performance - athletes who do not deserve to be called student or athlete simply because they don’t represent either. These students are currently enjoying a full scholarship. Many of these athletes should not have been allowed to receive track and field scholarships. I am expected not to cut scholarships for those athletes who are not living up to the expectation that should be in place for any athlete on a full scholarship – high level performance in the classroom and on the track. In addition I am expected to let high quality (academic and athletic) student-athletes who are ready to sign with UL and deserve a full scholarship go to other schools and let these scholarships continue to support mediocrity. I have identified and recruited better student-athletes that come from homes with good parents and stronger academic backgrounds worthy of handling college academics. I feel my efforts have gone unnoticed and as a result unappreciated by the administration. Instead of recognizing and supporting me in my effort to bring UL something it hasn’t had in awhile – a winning track program - I am considered to be someone who can’t work within the system and causes everyone trouble. I am also very disappointed that it was not disclosed to me during my job interview, that the Men’s Track and Field program would be losing a scholarship for the next year! Sadly, actions have proven otherwise due to the lack of cooperation from: • The Administration – questioning every move I make – after 20+ years as a coach at the junior college and Division 1 university level with no NCAA sanctions there should be some trust in my coaching decisions. • The Sports Information Department - not releasing Meet Results in a timely manner or not at all and no Media Guide as of March, • Weight Room - not designing workouts for the sport of track and field • Training room - not providing us with a student-trainer for fall practices or cross country meets. • Equipment Room- holding the purchase request for 2-3 month before even placing the order for items needed. • Camps/Student Union-2 Month delay at paying student/adult camp staff. I believe that the six sports that I represent are just the means for the University of Louisiana to keep in compliance with their NCAA Division I status, and that Track and Field will never be of any true importance! I felt that my experience, knowledge and involvement in day to day management of several successful programs for the past 23 years might be embraced by the administration. I was led to believe that my insight into the UL track and field program would make for a better environment enabling it to reach greater goals both academically and athletically. I have felt a great resentment from the Athletic Administration when trying to explain how successful programs are able to make it with the limitations put on them. When I accepted the position of Head Track Coach at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette many people told me I was crazy because the support wasn’t there to make it happen. I saw this job as a great challenge and I was thrilled and excited. I could see its future as a winning program. I believed I had an Administration that wanted the same things I did and would support me and be behind me. I came here believing this would be a “win-win” for all. However, because of the ongoing frustration I have experienced to date - and to which there seems to be no end - I feel it is in my best interest to resign my position as Head Men’ and Women’s Track and Field Coach as of June 30th, 2008. Thank you for this brief opportunity! Sincerely, Steve Silvey Head Men’s Track & Field The source of the story By BJ Thompson Cajun RedZone Publisher

[GetTheFacts1st]

_ This guy, yes it a great coach but have you actually spoken with this man and actually spent a day with him?? _

Adolf Hitler had the German people and Army believing (programmed) that he was a great leader after he told them over and over again that he was. Could it be that you referrred to your former coach as a great coach because you, too, heard him tell you over and over again that he was?

Let's be clear; great coaches (or great anythings) do not come and go in less than nine months --- they only come and go in that short time-frame if they are (1) found out (2) not great after all.

I go back to my original thought: If this coach is so magnificant, why has he not been a NCAA HEAD COACH before now? There are many good track schools and opportunities between his stint at a JC 20 years ago and Lafayette, LA today and there HAD to have been some that would have killed for his magnificant services before allowing him to land in Lafayette, LA.

Or he was "saving" his head coaching virginity for us after determining when he was a kid that this would be the ultimate dream job worth waiting for?

[NewsCopy]

BATON, ROUGE, LA - Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s and women’s track and field teams competed at the LSU Alumni Gold track meet on Saturday. Senior Casey Brown earned a career-best time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. In women’s action, Brown placed second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with her time of 11:35.45. The time marked a career-best for the senior. Taryn Simmons placed seventh in the 400-meter hurdles after she recorded a time of 1:01.41. Suzanne Boudreaux captured a 10th place finish in the 5,000-meter run with her time of 18:53.27. Kioloni Readeaux picked up a 12th place finish in the long jump with her mark of 18 feet, 10 1/2 inches. In men’s competition, DJ Hebert finished third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:49.55. Chis Roy placed fourth in the pole vault with his mark of 16 feet, 1 3/4 inches. Joby Gisclair placed seventh in the 5,000-meter run with his time of 16:09.34. Casey Comeaux finished 10th in the javelin throw with a mark of 179 feet. Roderick Houston finished 12th in the 200-meter dash after posting a time of 21.57 seconds. Houston also placed 24th out of 55 runners in the 100-meter dash. Houston posted a time of 10.82 seconds in the event. Kenneth Bellard finished ninth in the triple jump with a mark of 47 feet, 10 inches. Ben Leonards placed 11th in the hammer throw with his mark of 142 feet, 10 inches. Leonards also captured a 12th place finish in the shot put, followed by Jordan Folse who placed 13th. The Cajuns will compete at the Ty Terrell Relays in Beaumont, Texas on Thursday, April 24. RaginCajuns.com Heather L Warren