Tech's Intervention

[DestinCajun]

Look at his posting history, he isnt one of us. Take what he says with a grain of salt.

Z _

There's a lot of that going on these days. The baseboard comes loose and roaches slink out in droves.

[rhineaux]

_ A team doesn't simply change its offense in the middle of the season and I can only make a case based on what I saw on the field. We were not able to execute due to a significant number of injury hampered players and players lost to injury. The difference I see and you obviously don't is the degree to which we were impacted by injuries. It wasn't the two or three players on either side of the ball that every team has to deal with over a season. It was the entire LB corps minus Zanders. It was Mike Desormeaux the main cog in our offense and several linemen at various times.

And you wondered why I made the comment about “excuse-laden posts.”

I said nothing about changing an offense, I said the play calling was vanilla. You can use the injury excuse all you want, but even the coach doesn’t agree. In the MT game, the offense scored almost as many points in one game than they did in the previous three, not to mention Des breaking personal passing records. Now do you think it’s more likely that this was because Bustle finally adapted to the situation (the offense WAS more diverse, you can go back and compare film and see for yourself), or do you think that all the Cranberry Sauce from Thanksgiving fixed everyone’s bobo’s?

In essence you're saying if we had done something different or played a healthy third string QB, we would have been successful. That's arm chair coaching after the fact. I think the bottomline here is you've decided we need to fire Bustle and you create whatever rationale is handy to support that.

I never said anything about a 3rd String QB. Call it arm chair coaching if you want, but after the extent of Des’ injury became known, it was obvious that something was going to have to be done differently. Nothing changed…the coaches didn’t adapt…and when we played the 3 toughest opponents with the 3 best coaches, the offense quickly bogged down. You may think that this rationale is created because I want the coach fired, but if that’s the case, then Bustle’s quote must mean that he wants himself fired.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Holy Trinity couldn't have come in and won here these past few years and Rickey. Bustle was apparantly the only person nuts enough to take on the job. The reality is yes he can now be evaluated but I didn't see anything on the field that warrants firing him (which we're not going to do anyway).

I'll admit because I cannot see the future that you might eventually be proven correct about Bustle but I don't see it right now, not based on this season's final results and where we are in terms of returning players next season. Check with me after the 2009 season. _

You are obviously much more patient than I am. Nobody questions that he had an uphill climb when he came aboard, but even in the 4 seasons that you say he can be judged upon (however in another thread yesterday you said he could only be judged on the 07, 08, and 09 seasons), he still has a losing record. And, you’ve still never told me what he has accomplished (not ‘we will be healthy and experienced’ or ‘such and such will be more experienced’, something that actually has merit that might go on his resume) that makes you think that this program will ever get beyond 5-7 wins under Bustle. And, considering he does win 7 games next year, which would automatically extend his contract, then what are we left with? Hoping that he can build off of that in 2010? Three seasons after his first 6 win season, he still hasn’t surpassed that mark. The point I’m trying to make is that we have to draw the line somewhere. I understand that some of the fans on this board don’t like to talk poorly about coaches, but at some point this school and this fan base needs to look in the mirror and ask themselves “When are we going to start acting like we want to be winners?” “When are we going to do what it takes to be successful?” “When are we going to quit hoping that a coach can turn something around and quit making excuses for them because they're good people?” As someone said a few days ago, this Ath Dept needs to start being run as a business, not as a charity that's afraid to rock the boat in fear that their volunteers might leave.

At the end of the day, it is what it is. Bustle will be kept on for at least another year, and the Football Program will continue to move laterally while other programs are moving forward. Some Cajun fans will stick around and hope that something changes, others might get more proactive and speak out (hopefully to the right people, not just on the boards) about the lack of growth, and the already large Apathetic Fan Group will gain more members that are tired of excuses and the lack of initiative from the Admin.

I'm getting tired of the subject, and I'm sure everyone else is too, so I've said my last word in this thread. Thanks for the argument, Destin.

[CajunZ1]

the already large Apathetic Fan Group will gain more members that are tired of excuses and the lack of initiative from the Admin.

The AFG is a very accessible club. Way more accessible than the RCAF...

[DestinCajun]

You are obviously much more patient than I am.

Obviously.

[KAjunRaider]

_ Many would go to the Indy Bowl never considered the trek to Troy. I saw friends at the Tulane games who live throughout Texas and Florida. They would have made plans for Shreveport... no doubt about it. Troy is a heck of a drive to the middle of nowhere. Shreveport is a short drive from Acadiana for the first 10k who would have been there to "party in Shreveport". It would have been the first bowl in 38 years... we were all going. _

Who is to say that the SBC so-called "contract" would have held up in the 3 Secondary tie-ins for the Belt, even with 7 wins.

My bet is that Cajuns would have been sent out to Hawaii (or somewhere further from your area) and the powers-that-be would have somehow shuffled the I Bowl and Pizza Bowl to get other 7-win teams in (see Western Michigan), so that a 7-win Cajuns (or MT or stAte) would have been pushed elsewhere.

[Cajunsmike]

_ And you wondered why I made the comment about “excuse-laden posts.”

I said nothing about changing an offense, I said the play calling was vanilla. You can use the injury excuse all you want, but even the coach doesn’t agree. In the MT game, the offense scored almost as many points in one game than they did in the previous three, not to mention Des breaking personal passing records. Now do you think it’s more likely that this was because Bustle finally adapted to the situation (the offense WAS more diverse, you can go back and compare film and see for yourself), or do you think that all the Cranberry Sauce from Thanksgiving fixed everyone’s bobo’s?




I never said anything about a 3rd String QB. Call it arm chair coaching if you want, but after the extent of Des’ injury became known, it was obvious that something was going to have to be done differently. Nothing changed…the coaches didn’t adapt…and when we played the 3 toughest opponents with the 3 best coaches, the offense quickly bogged down. You may think that this rationale is created because I want the coach fired, but if that’s the case, then Bustle’s quote must mean that he wants himself fired.



You are obviously much more patient than I am. Nobody questions that he had an uphill climb when he came aboard, but even in the 4 seasons that you say he can be judged upon (however in another thread yesterday you said he could only be judged on the 07, 08, and 09 seasons), he still has a losing record. And, you’ve still never told me what he has accomplished (not ‘we will be healthy and experienced’ or ‘such and such will be more experienced’, something that actually has merit that might go on his resume) that makes you think that this program will ever get beyond 5-7 wins under Bustle. And, considering he does win 7 games next year, which would automatically extend his contract, then what are we left with? Hoping that he can build off of that in 2010? Three seasons after his first 6 win season, he still hasn’t surpassed that mark. The point I’m trying to make is that we have to draw the line somewhere. I understand that some of the fans on this board don’t like to talk poorly about coaches, but at some point this school and this fan base needs to look in the mirror and ask themselves “When are we going to start acting like we want to be winners?” “When are we going to do what it takes to be successful?” “When are we going to quit hoping that a coach can turn something around and quit making excuses for them because they're good people?” As someone said a few days ago, this Ath Dept needs to start being run as a business, not as a charity that's afraid to rock the boat in fear that their volunteers might leave.

At the end of the day, it is what it is. Bustle will be kept on for at least another year, and the Football Program will continue to move laterally while other programs are moving forward. Some Cajun fans will stick around and hope that something changes, others might get more proactive and speak out (hopefully to the right people, not just on the boards) about the lack of growth, and the already large Apathetic Fan Group will gain more members that are tired of excuses and the lack of initiative from the Admin.

I'm getting tired of the subject, and I'm sure everyone else is too, so I've said my last word in this thread. Thanks for the argument, Destin. _

Doing what it takes to be successful is more than firing a coach. I don't know enough about football to argue one way or another on that point. I will say doing what it takes to be successful is to increase the revenue stream into the deparment significantly. That will help us progress a lot more than a coaching change will. Things are moving on that front but I recognize it is not nearly fast enough for most due to moves our competition is making.

[Just1More]

_ Who is to say that the SBC so-called "contract" would have held up in the 3 Secondary tie-ins for the Belt, even with 7 wins.

My bet is that Cajuns would have been sent out to Hawaii (or somewhere further from your area) and the powers-that-be would have somehow shuffled the I Bowl and Pizza Bowl to get other 7-win teams in (see Western Michigan), so that a 7-win Cajuns (or MT or stAte) would have been pushed elsewhere. _

I do not want to leave our bowl hopes on a "memorandum of understanding"... period. Either the SBC gets better tie-in agreements beyond the NO Bowl, or all of us are going to be on the outside looking in without the outright championship. I'm not sure whether Wright Waters competency played a role in this "not knowing the exact language of the arrangement", but he better step it up a notch and work out a legally binding tie-in with at least one other bowl.

[jllanclos]

Sure wish I knew what our conference's plans are for securing more automatic berths in 2010. Think I have a pretty good idea, unfortunately...

[CajunZ1]

I'm not sure whether Wright Waters competency played a role in this "not knowing the exact language of the arrangement", but he better step it up a notch and work out a legally binding tie-in with at least one other bowl. _

The good news is, we're getting better as a conference. And by better, I mean we're beating OOC opponents when we used to be unable to.

The question that still remains for most bowls (in the words of WW), "can the sun belt bring fans to our bowl." This, unfortunately is where things get less rosy for us (as a conference). While I fully believe a strong contingent of Cajun fans would travel to a regional bowl, I'm not so sure I see that with the other schools.

For instance, Troy obviously has the best football program in the belt (by far, I'd argue), but do they travel well? In droves? Troy and FAU (and MT, and stAte) make up the sampling of how the Belt travels. And so far I'd say it's less than impressive.

To be fair to those Belt schools, we really can't claim to be able to travel better, since we haven't gotten to a bowl yet.
(But between us, we TOTALLY would! )

[KAjunRaider]

_ The good news is, we're getting better as a conference. And by better, I mean we're beating OOC opponents when we used to be unable to.

The question that still remains for most bowls (in the words of WW), "can the sun belt bring fans to our bowl." This, unfortunately is where things get less rosy for us (as a conference). While I fully believe a strong contingent of Cajun fans would travel to a regional bowl, I'm not so sure I see that with the other schools.

For instance, Troy obviously has the best football program in the belt (by far, I'd argue), but do they travel well? In droves? Troy and FAU make up the sampling of how the Belt travels. And so far I'd say it's less than impressive.

To be fair to those Belt schools, we really can't claim to be able to travel better, since we haven't gotten to a bowl yet.
(But between us, we TOTALLY would! ) _

To play devil's advocate, would you travel better to a non-regional bowl (not saying you wouldn't) ?

MT bought 4,000 tickets to the Motor City Bowl, and had over 2,000 butts in Detroit in 2006. Not great, but it's the most ever tickets sold to a bowl from the Sun Belt through a school, including North Texas in all 4 N'Awlins Bowls.

I'm a homer, but I think MT has the best travelling crowd in the SBC. We took over 700 to FAU a couple of years ago. stAte's not a bad travelling bunch, either.