Future Recruiting

[bballholic]

Damn, La Tech just received a commitment from Rufus Porter is arguably their best commitment so far. Very nice addition for Dooley and his staff.

[Zeebart21]

_ Damn, La Tech just received a commitment from Rufus Porter is arguably their best commitment so far. Very nice addition for Dooley and his staff. _

so he made his grades, huh?

Z

[DestinCajun]

A. They are 1AA. No comparison.

B. Look at schools like Troy & Tech. Building off a strong season is very helpful in recruiting wars. _

Not based upon what you posted it isn't

I agree but they (I assume by "Tech" you mean Tex, Va or Ga Tech) are two whollly different situations. As is FAU.

[Just1More]

_ Solid points. I just feel that La Tech and Tulane are positioning themselves to significantly distance themselves from the other schools as far as football is concerned. For instance, Tulane already has commitments from seven 3* recruits according to Rivals. From the years 2002-2008, Tulane was credited with a total of eleven 3* recruits. Tech's recent bowl victory and regular season victory over Miss State should help bolster their upcoming classes. Like you stated, UL-Lafayette desperately needs to jumpstart their program by upsetting a BCS opponent or something along the lines of that. _

Tech is clearly in a comfortable position ahead of everyone, except LSU of course. (Tulane is an enigma and anything can happen with Tulane - no real relationship to what we at UL do right or wrong). Back to Tech... they are in a peak and deserve the accolades for not having snuffed their football program like we did. Tech is just an example of how a publically underfunded program, with far less going for it, has fired on all cylinders available. They didn't just get a couple of big boosters to arrive and lift them up. Their admin facilitated it. The WAC affiliation is obviously a great help to them in football, bowl tie-ins, etc. I had no doubt that when Dooley entered the picture, he was going to make noise.

It is certainly impressive to see the Rivals recruiting for Tech. If the shoe were on the other foot for UL... we would be ecstatic. That is not to say that we are not extremely pleased with the talent we are commiting. We had limited scholarships, very specific target needs, went the JUCO route this year and apparently had some select recruits in other states. We have done well with Florida talent, and haven't quite overcome the down that some Louisiana folks have tagged with our program. It is up to us to get that image turned around.

For Tech, Dooley is a risk. It is a risk that I would play in a heartbeat. But, knowing some things about the guy... I would expect Tech to plant everything around him and watch it get dug up and trashed when he bolts. They will not ride the wave in his absence and he will be gone in 2-3 years. I'm afraid that is just not a luxury for a rural, relatively small, Louisiana school... whether you have "Tech" in your name or not. But, they are firing hard with their engine right now... that is for sure.

UL, on the other hand, is trying very hard to overcome some self-inflicted damage from our past. We have never taken brave bold steps in the past. We have been afflicted with fear-stricken management that are so used to so little, that any achievement impresses them enormously. If you are truly interested in the long term prospect of UL football... much has to do with how our new president (Savoie) decides he will assist and support athletics. He has to become a staunch believer that our prowess in athletics is our next key critical mission. It will bring in our disconnected alumni... they will not let him down... and the community will shortly follow. It will assist everything he has on his UL plate and everything to come in the future.

As for football and future recruiting... we have to do what it takes to win the SBC and go to a bowl. That is our primary football recruiting mission... not to use Rivals as a scorecard... not yet at least.

[DestinCajun]

The WAC affiliation is obviously a great help to them in football, bowl tie-ins, etc. I had no doubt that when Dooley entered the picture, he was going to make noise.

How does playing in front of home crowds the same size as ours help? All those fine WAC teams showing up in Ruston hasn't lit a fire under their fans.

How does a spot in the Boise Bowl and and major butt whipping by Clemson back in 2002 (?) where they lost money going and a spot in the 2008 Ind. Bowl that they backed into and a close win over a poor opponent in a miserable game translate to a great help. The WAC didn't get LaTex into the Indy Bowl, the SEC and the Big XII did.

Are they recruiting well, yes, I believe they are. They did so as well when they had Gary Crowton and Joe Raymond Peace - just to name a couple of other occasions.

Do all their recruits have the grades, I guess we'll see.

[RaginFan2]

_Look at schools like Troy & Tech. Building off a strong season is very helpful in recruiting wars. _

I don't agree that they are building off a "strong season". That implies one good season will do it. I think they are doing it off of perceived program strength. They have both been relatively strong for multiple years. Plus I don't think the recruits pay much attention to which bowl game they went to or how good a game it was (or wasn't). Just that they went to ANOTHER bowl game (not their first in 30-something years!). Just my opinion.

[Just1More]

_ How does playing in front of home crowds the same size as ours help? All those fine WAC teams showing up in Ruston hasn't lit a fire under their fans.

How does a spot in the Boise Bowl and and major butt whipping by Clemson back in 2002 (?) where they lost money going and a spot in the 2008 Ind. Bowl that they backed into and a close win over a poor opponent in a miserable game translate to a great help. The WAC didn't get LaTex into the Indy Bowl, the SEC and the Big XII did.

Are they recruiting well, yes, I believe they are. They did so as well when they had Gary Crowton and Joe Raymond Peace - just to name a couple of other occasions.

Do all their recruits have the grades, I guess we'll see. _

As for the WAC, it isn't your and my impression that counts. It is the recruits, their friends, their coaches and their families. The WAC has bowl tie-ins the SBC simply does not. These recruits place a value on that. It doesn't matter what got Tech into the Indy Bowl... they got in and they won it. All of that culminates in getting these young impressionable kids to choose Tech over others. UL could easily be in the same position (not in the WAC... but a much more competitive program with some recent bowl history). We should have dominated the SBC in the early going. I am not going to go into the reasoning behind that statement. It is fact. Our admin didn't do it right many moons ago and we are paying for it. Plain and simple. It takes balls that our admin never had. I can only hope the current men in charge have a pair between them.

I know nothing about this "grade" question. Sounds like wishful thinking on our part. And remember... they talk very slow in north Louisiana. You can hardly tell a college professor from a manure handler.

[Cajunsmike]

I don't agree that they are building off a "strong season". That implies one good season will do it. I think they are doing it off of perceived program strength. They have both been relatively strong for multiple years. Plus I don't think the recruits pay much attention to which bowl game they went to or how good a game it was (or wasn't). Just that they went to ANOTHER bowl game (not their first in 30-something years!). Just my opinion.

I don't know that Tech has been relatively strong for several years. They were 4 and 8 in 2007 while I believe they were 3 and 9 in 2006.

[Boomer]

I don't now who is recruiting the west bank of NO for Tech--but he is kicking ass!!!!!!!! 9-10 damn good players in the last 2 years--Beleive me as one who recruited the area---you get a thread going and you get some that you wouldn't have---From the West Bank to Ruston????/--We need to do much better!!!!!!!

[RaginFan2]

_ I don't know that Tech has been relatively strong for several years. They were 4 and 8 in 2007 while I believe they were 3 and 9 in 2006. _

I'm talking about a longer time frame than that. Say maybe 10-15 years. How many BCS teams have we EVER beaten? Texas A&M (once), and ...??? LA Tech has beaten multiple BCS teams, some multiple times (Alabama!). Now, I don't think their program is light years ahead of us, but those victories have earned them a greater respect than we have. And rightfully so. Could we get there? Yes, I definitely think so. If I didn't, I wouldn't be wasting my time following Ragin' Cajun football. I would've done what so many of our alumni do: ignore our team and follow another school (although I could never shift my allegiance to the east!).

[RaginFan2]

_ I don't now who is recruiting the west bank of NO for Tech--but he is kicking ass!!!!!!!! 9-10 damn good players in the last 2 years--Beleive me as one who recruited the area---you get a thread going and you get some that you wouldn't have---From the West Bank to Ruston????/--We need to do much better!!!!!!! _

Could it be our once-candidate for OC, Frank Scelfo, the ex-Tulane Greenie?

[CajunT]

_ I'm talking about a longer time frame than that. Say maybe 10-15 years. How many BCS teams have we EVER beaten? Texas A&M (once), and ...??? LA Tech has beaten multiple BCS teams, some multiple times (Alabama!). Now, I don't think their program is light years ahead of us, but those victories have earned them a greater respect than we have. And rightfully so. Could we get there? Yes, I definitely think so. If I didn't, I wouldn't be wasting my time following Ragin' Cajun football. I would've done what so many of our alumni do: ignore our team and follow another school (although I could never shift my allegiance to the east!). _

They're not getting recruits because of those wins; We are talking about athletes that were 3-8 years old during that period. Most of the kids don't have any idea who played for Tech's football program back then. Until they get on campus and tour the Hall of Fame room, none of these kids from New Orleans or Dallas know that history.