The Book 2008 Football

[CajunRed]

_ If any of these coaches were so great then why did they get fired? The only UL athletic program that is consistent is baseball. Even Robe will drop a (what the hell was that) kinda season once in a while. Look at whats going on in basketball. Weren't we as a team better under Jessie Evans? Didn't we get rid of him to clean the program up? Hows that working out?

If we can finish top 3 in the sunbelt year in and year out and win between 5 and 8 games.... that might be our ceiling. _

I'm a GREAT fan of both UL baseball and of Coach Robe... but UL baseball is not as "consistent" as you might think. Add up the conference championships and regional play wins over the past 10 years. Its not quite as good as you might think till you go through the exercises.

[DestinCajun]

No wonder LA Tech has a problem playing the belt in a bowl. They already have their fill of former powerhouse members Idaho, Utah State and NMSU. Now THAT is a tough schedule. _

I watched their game vs NMST with interest. LaTex scored the winning TD in the last couple of minutes of the game (btw, their only points in the entire second half) on a play where their wide receiver went out of bounds and came back inbounds to make the catch and score. It was an illegal play and the refs gave it to them. That and a win in a slugfest with SLU got them to the Independence Bowl.

[DaddyCajun]

All I know is I will watch the I-Bowl to see how much Blue tarp they have in the stands to push the fans together so to make the attendance LOOK as though there is a nice crowd!

[angellebertrand]

Good question. I would also like to see more home games, but not on a Wednesday night...what was that all about? Just to be on ESPN + or whatever channel it was on.

[Clutch0364]

_ If any of these coaches were so great then why did they get fired? The only UL athletic program that is consistent is baseball. Even Robe will drop a (what the hell was that) kinda season once in a while. Look at whats going on in basketball. Weren't we as a team better under Jessie Evans? Didn't we get rid of him to clean the program up? Hows that working out?

If we can finish top 3 in the sunbelt year in and year out and win between 5 and 8 games.... that might be our ceiling. _

We didn't get rid of Jessie Evans he left for more money. Robert was the first choice but Cyprien came in and was quickly out because somethings on his resume were false.

If 5 game is our ceiling then some people aren't doing their jobs. UL should strive to be better than that. If coaches come in and don't get it done then they need to stop playing around and fire them and move on. Our fan base is very soft on speaking up about people needing to be fired but it is a business and if things aren't good then you have to change something. I think years of horrible play though has made the fan base apathetic. It is time to stop thinking about the past when discussing the future of the program however and make some moves that will put UL on the map and out of the crapper/

[CajunT]

_ We were #1 in the belt this year. Alot of that had to do with our homecoming and winning 4 in a row...

BUT,

after beating the drum to get attendance up... how many years of 21K to 28K would we need in a row to give up at least one money game if not both? Don't we make more money on the gate? _

The question could only be answered after we have the 2007-2008 Budget and Actual cost numbers in hand. In addition to those numbers, we would have to look at donation dollars, capital improvements and take into account a yearly increase in the Football Operating Budget to grow the program. In my humble opinion, this would not be possible in the near future. Keep in mind, we are light years behind Troy and FAU in football Budget and Operating cost. Those two should be our target goals! You have to be able to compete with the top programs in your conference yearly for Championships and Bowls. We are not there yet.

[Just1More]

_ The question could only be answered after we have the 2007-2008 Budget and Actual cost numbers in hand. In addition to those numbers, we would have to look at donation dollars, capital improvements and take into account a yearly increase in the Football Operating Budget to grow the program. In my humble opinion, this would not possible in the near future. Keep in mind, we are light years behind Troy and FAU in football Budget and Operating cost. Those two should be our target goals! You have to be able to compete with the top programs in your conference yearly for Championships and Bowls. We are not there yet. _

The only way we are going to "catch up" is to implement a "major" private funding system. It may be a pain in the butt to our administrators, but I would vote to drop football altogether if we are going to continue to attempt to hang out at the bottom of the FBS and think we are going to get luckier than others... with less money.

As for questioning money games break points against home game ticket sales, etc... if our admin doesn't have that equation and data well in hand... Lord help us.

[cjr3888]

Does anyone know anything about the Ragin Cajun Club? I was reading through Bustle's contract and the Ragin Cajun Club pays all the incentives and benefits.

[ATXCajun]

_ Good question. I would also like to see more home games, but not on a Wednesday night...what was that all about? Just to be on ESPN + or whatever channel it was on. _

No kidding. I don't see the value in that. Needs to be ESPN2 if we are going to give up a Saturday.

[waterboy]

_ Does anyone know anything about the Ragin Cajun Club? I was reading through Bustle's contract and the Ragin Cajun Club pays all the incentives and benefits. _

It's a mandatory assessment on your season tickets. For baseball it is $20.00 per ticket for bleachers, $50 per for Patio box and $100 for Box and chairback. Don't have football bill anymore, but I am pretty sure it is similar.

[KAjunRaider]

_ Good question. I would also like to see more home games, but not on a Wednesday night...what was that all about? Just to be on ESPN + or whatever channel it was on. _

I wonder how many thousands of dollars that cost your university?

I bet MT would have brought 2 or 3 hundred more.

How many more Cajuns fans would have bought tickets?

[gorcajun]

UL has rarely played a game after Thanksgiving. Without students in town for the long weekend and families taking trips, albeit in a down economy, I think the attendance on 12/3 vs 11/29 is "relatively comparable". The one thing that suffered was the intensity of tailgating.