Should Bustle be fired

[Rebel02]

The corndog stinch in this poll is really bad.

[Clutch0364]

_ Nothing personal, but its this kind of laid back thinking that I hate. We should never be ok with a season like this. If there was some decent, overbearing reason why we had this season, and it came after we had a few 7 or 8 or 9 win seasons, then you might have an point. But this, after a .500 plus 1, and a .500 season...what do we have to gain?

Like I've said before the risks and reprocussions of having another poor season next year are greater than the reward of this team maybe having a 6 win season next year. He has never won more than 6...what makes you think this team will win more next year. I hate .500, I want more. _

My thinking exactly...will everyone be happy next year with 6 wins? 6 wins isn't enough...we have to expect more if we want this program to become something great.

[shof]

_ Polls like this need to show who votes in them. There is NO way almost 50% of the voters want Bustle to stay. A big reason I suppose, for the Kool Aid drinkers to close the delphi board was because too many people(not having UL's best interest in mind) were putting their nose into places it didnt belong.

L'te _

Just because everybody doesn't agree with you doesn't mean they must be corndogs! I suspect most LSU supporters don't have a clue this poll is going on anyway. I am in no way happy, satisfied, or otherwise gleeful about this season; but I did vote "NO". Don't care about the contract buyout as that wasn't a condition of the question. This season has sucked; but I'm just not sure how much of that lay's directly at Bustle's feet. Yes, he is ultimately responsible; but there are still too many contributing factors to say fire him now. That said, I was on the fence answering this question. At this point I am not a "full fledged Bustle supporter." He should have done more by now; but he has had a tall ladder to climb to get this program respectable. He has had 2 "better" recruiting classes and many of them are getting playing time now. Honestly, how many quality players do you think wanted to come here following the Baldwin fiasco? One of the most important indicators of Bustle's continued support from this administration may well be this coming year's recruiting class. If it is seen as going backwards; then we will have little choice but to cut the cord. But if he can still get the quality/quantity of athletes he has gotten the last 2 classes, AND have a winning season in 08, he just may have finally turned the corner. But that's all I'm giving him.
Regardless of what happens, I'll still renew my season tickets for 08.

Shof

[blackjack]

Lets see should Bustle be fired. Well he only took over a program that was the worst in college football. Yes i said the worst. If you look at his first two years he really had nothing to work with. He spent majority of the time trying to get the Ragin Cajuns to a level of respect first of all. His third showed some promise. His fourth year the Cajuns tied for the sb title. His fifth year he was 6-6 with a win over conf USA champion. Also in that same year he had major injuries to key players down the stretch but still managed an ok record. Year six is bad. Other things that he has accomplished is that he has increased the graduation rate by almost 38%,now thats unheard of. Lets mlet it be known that he did have other job offers to leave after his conf title season and one of the offers was a Sun Belt school. But he stayed loyal to the cajuns. Hell no he shouldnt be fired we need to look past saturday night result and look at the overall performance of the total program. Maybe we are just like everybody else recruit thugs win some ball games and the hell with every thing else.

[anhil8tor]

I am really numb to the discussion. I will be buying season tix next year no matter what and I hope to see them win a home game or 4....

[J-Town Cajun]

I voted for Bustle to go. But at $194,000 a year that is expensive. We can keep Bustle and spend that $194,000 on facility improvements which will go a long way in future recruiting

[rhineaux]

BJ,I don't think anyone doubts or disagrees with what you are saying. But, the inverse to that is that we aren't a michigan or a USC or an oklahoma in that when they have a bad year, their attendance won't decrease by well more than half. I understand where you feel that we owe something to him for the good job he's done, but you and us are also fans and will return no matter what. You have to look at this decision through the eyes of the folks that we're trying to attract.if they aren't coming to games now, and we keep this coach, then what will make them come to games next year. And if you think that attendance is bad right now, just think of how bad it will be at the end of next year if he fails again. Then that 200k extra that it would have taken to by him out for '08 will seem like chump change compared to the lost revenue in season ticket sales and concessions, etc.

[Clutch0364]

_ BJ,I don't think anyone doubts or disagrees with what you are saying. But, the inverse to that is that we aren't a michigan or a USC or an oklahoma in that when they have a bad year, their attendance won't decrease by well more than half. I understand where you feel that we owe something to him for the good job he's done, but you and us are also fans and will return no matter what. You have to look at this decision through the eyes of the folks that we're trying to attract.if they aren't coming to games now, and we keep this coach, then what will make them come to games next year. And if you think that attendance is bad right now, just think of how bad it will be at the end of next year if he fails again. Then that 200k extra that it would have taken to by him out for '08 will seem like chump change compared to the lost revenue in season ticket sales and concessions, etc. _

[California Cajun]

_ I voted yes based on your criteria. However, knowing that he will be here at least one more year, my recommendation to the new president would be, if he doesn't win at least 7 games and do no worse than second in the conference, then he needs to be fired after next season no matter how much it takes to buy him out. _

Therein lies the problem. Whether a fan comes down on the side of firing or not firing the coach, more is going to be expected next year than I think is realistic.

I don't think this program can deliver seven wins under any coach in 2008.

If a change is inevitable in 2009 you might as well start anew in 2008. If you believe in this staff and think it hasn't been adequately supported by the administration and athletic department you have to give them beyond 2008 and see how they do with a new president and athletic department personnel.

[Cajunsmike]

_ Therein lies the problem. Whether a fan comes down on the side of firing or not firing the coach, more is going to be expected next year than I think is realistic.

I don't think this program can deliver seven wins under any coach in 2008.

If a change is inevitable in 2009 you might as well start anew in 2008. If you believe in this staff and think it hasn't been adequately supported by the administration and athletic department you have to give them beyond 2008 and see how they do with a new president and athletic department personnel. _

I don't think the staff will be changed after 2008 if they have a 6 and 6 record. Some may not agree with that. However, the administration will probably feel that is enough of an improvement to warrant retainment. 5 and 7 may be a different story.

[blackjack]

Well If Those People Dont Attend The Games And Show Support When Times Are Rough Then Do We Really Want Them Apart Of The Cajun Family. How Can We Say They Are True Fans. I Rember The Championship Season When Things Looked Really Bad Then All Of Sudden They Turned It Around. Those Fans Who Gave Up On Those Kids And Stop Coming To The Games Wasnt The Reason For The Turn Around. I Would Rather Have A Few Good Supports That Will Stay With Those Players And Coaches Thru Good And Bad. Im So Tired Of The Excuses That The So Called Know It Alls Are Bring Up. First It Was Why We Recruit Florida And Not Louisisana More, Now Its Lets Make A Change Because Of Attendence Or Support. Whats Next!!! Here Is Something For You What Other Team Is Playing With At Least 15 Freshman Or Red Shirt Freshmen And Winning Ball Games.let Me See Nobody!!!!!! But Like I Said Mybe Cajun Country Is Not As Special As We Try To Make It And We Should Just Do What Everyone Alse Does.

[CajunCanaille]

I know I'm late posting but I will voice my opinion. Do I think Bustle is doing a good job? Yeah, sort of. But I also believe he's far from doing a great job. This guy took over the worst program in the nation. Up until this year everyone was talking about how far this university has come. Now he's had a bad year (with a new coaching staff). It's going to happen. Espcially when you have a new staff. Also, we are not going to get the talent it takes to be a 500 team year after year. Why you ask? Because we can't recruit. Why can't we recruit you ask? It may be partially b/c Bustle has a tough time recruiting but he can't do much when it comes to recruiting due to our budget. We have the second lowest budget in Division 1. That's pitiful! I'm only 25 years old and don't have to wallet to donate thousand of dollars. So those wealthy people who claim to want to support the Ragin Cajuns as well as Lafayette need to fork up the money they claim they would donate if we were somewhat successful. I don't think some people are seeing the connection. Sure they want to donate money but don't want to donate if we suck. It's a catch 22. The Cajuns, with or without Bustle, will suck if there is no budget to recruit. So to say Bustle should be fired is an extremely tough question. You just have to ask yourself, what could Bustle do with a decent budget? So instead of hiring and firing coaches every few years we need to get some sort of funding for recruiting. We have to give our coaches the tools necessary to do their job.

As for the recent post about so called band wagon fans and how they are not wanted. You've got to get the mode of thinking out of your head! We need what band wagon fans. They are what make up a lot of the fan base in sports. Take the Saints, LSU, the Red Sox. Do you think all their fans have been fans since day one. Hell NO! I am a LOYAL supporter of this university and don't miss many games in the major sports but I welcome anyone who wants to be a fan. I welcome them, their attendance, their revenue and whatever else they bring to benefit this universtiy.

If we are going to complain about poor attendence, don't be afraid to point a finger at the students, and the fraternities and sororities in general. As a student you should be proud to be a part of the university and want to go to every game to show your support. But this school lacks that. Our fraternities and sororities are really bad about this. How do you represent your school by showing up to tailgate at 4 pm for a 6 pm game and then not go into the game. What that tells me is that you didn't join your fraternity to be part of a school organization that is all about the pride of UL, you joined b/c you don't have any friends. It's very attractive as a alumnus or local fan to go to a game, look accross from the home side and see thousands of screaming fans. But we don't have that. We have a few students piled up in the two middle section of the student side more worried about what they are doing after the game rather than cheering for their team. So who do I blame for the poor attendence? Sure some of the alumni and locals but mainly the damn students!


Oh yeah....and back to the origional point...I dont' think we should fire Bustle unless he repeats a season like this one.