_ The Cajuns problems with coaches and their contracts come from two different problems.
First, the Cajuns often give long term contracts to coaches who donīt need or deserve them (Rogers and Lee), or they do not give enough money or time to the coaches who need long term contracts (Hall, Evans, Bustle).
Rogers, who was an assistant coach for lowly Mississippi State and a local high school head coach, was given, with no questions asked, a four year contract. He has repaid the Cajuns by driving down the win total and running off as many players as possible. No experience needed as the Cajuns give out four year contracts to anyone. On the flip side, the Cajuns gave year to year contracts to J. Kelly Hall, who was raising the win total every year. Winning every year will get you...one more year. The Cajuns, after 3 improving years of J Kelly Hall,
finally realized he was a good coach and rewarded him with a four year contract. Though Hall professes his love of Cajun country and is siencere (his daughters were born here), there was no incentive to stay as Cincinatti offered him more money
immediately.
UL is now stuck with 2 more years of Rogers, unless the university decides to pay his buyout. Meanwhile, Hall was fired by the Bearcats, and remains available to coach. His wife is a former WNBA player, Hall has had success at UL (got to the NCAA tournament as an at-large 11 seed) and UL has not contacted him. In his two years at Cincinatti, Hall did not forget how to coach.
Go after Hall. Heīs not going to become a plumber tomorrow, and he had success at UL. Itīs not like Rogers is going to take the Cajuns back to the NCAA tournament or earn a contract extension. Fire Rogers, and re-hire Hall, who is currently unemployed. He likely wants to coach again. As a male, his upward mobility is limited -- sadly -- and he speaks positively of UL.
Lee is no different. Lee completely hoodwinked an entire fan base and administration into believing losing the right way (with no description of such an ethos or credibility) was better than paying Jessie Evans to win 20 games a year. Lee had no experience as a college HC, had experience as an assistant for UL (which is not Arizona, the best program if you want to go to the NBA) and was an HC for a Opelousas High (not to be confused with DeMatha in Maryland), but the Cajuns gave him a 5 year contract.
The Cajuns saddle themselves with long term contract for coaches who have no credibility or experience. They are then stuck with the coach for the duration of the contract and have no wiggle room with which to work.
On the flip side, the Cajuns rarely give contract extensions or money to the coaches who deserve money or time. The Hall example was recently discussed, and Evans routinely won 20 games and only got one contract extension despite repeated postseason appearances. The Cajuns traded 20 wins, postseason appearances and ESPN2 games for 10 wins, home and away games against the same
OOC opponent, and yearly first round exits from the SBC tournament.
If the program is performing well, the Cajuns
have to reward coaches to promote stability in the program, retain season ticket holders and one time purchasers interested in winning, and establish some foundation for the university and its athletic department. Successful coaches (non-losing seasons at UL) need long term contracts to attract four year students or 3 year transfers (Evans ability, with a one year contract, to attract top athletes makes UL look more foolish for trading him for Lee).
UL may have fired Bustle without announcing it. Despite having non-losing seasons 3 of the last 5 years, Bustle was not rewarded for going 6-6, a rare accomplishment in the last 10 years of UL football (
http://www.ncaapalace.com/component/...af/pastseasons). He has two years (2009, 2010) remaining on his deal. UL has no other option waiting in the wings, UL will not receive interest from top assistants or current HCs and UL should have extended Bustle after a 6-6 season.
Bustle will be lucky if he can recruit anyone considering he can truthfully tell recruits he will only be at UL their first season. The Cajuns will, at worst, finish 3-9 or, at best, 5-7 with a little luck in 2009. UL cannot extend Bustle, because of those results, in 2009, which leaves UL and Bustle, its most successful coach since 1993-1996, at a crossroads. Bustle will need more years on his contract to recruit, and UL, if it changes coaches, will have little recruiting from Bustleīs last year (why play for him if heīs not getting paid?), which drives down the appeal of the job and hurts the first year for the incoming coach. Bustle is having non-losing seasons. They arenīt sexy, but UL has no other option.
Second, the Cajuns refuse to raise money or develop a successful fundraising program. RCAF is constantly dotting the I and crossing the T. But, as the economy weakens and the programs get worse, RCAFīs inability to get its act together hurts the Cajuns ability to raise money to pay buyouts, attract coaches, and pay for deserved bonuses. There are no events in Lafayette to raise money for the Cajuns, and the events which are held are poorly advertised, meaning only those in the know can attend or donate. So much for attracting new fans and building a larger donor base.
RCAF will not be ready for the 2009 football season, which could be a blessing as the Cajuns record will be dismal. RCAF needed to be ready last year, and donations need to be required of anyone wanting season tickets. Womenīs and menīs basketball will be poorly attended and it will be difficult to solicite donations for a programs going down the tube. But, as it stands, no one really knows about RCAF. The Cajuns announced it on a Friday, with no press attendance (there goes talking about it in front of the water cooler during the week), and it is still not ready. Donations cannot be made online, and the Cajuns have no database of fans to contact trying to get donations.
Example: this posterīs mother earned her Graduate Degree from UL. She has never once, in the 5 years since, been contacted to donate. The initial response might be ĻWell, she should make the effort to donate.Ļ But the Cajuns cannot be that foolish. They must contact graduates, fans, ticket purchasers with regularity to build a database or donors who can help RCAF grow.
In order to survive in this economy, the Cajuns need to do two things. First, raise money through donors and companies (difficult to do as Cajuns effectively endorse mediocrity by refusing to fire failures like Lee and Rogers) to help drive down costs of firing and hiring new coaches. Second, give extensions for non-losing seasons (.500 and above) each time the non-losing season is achieved.
When the Cajuns had Hall and Evans and the teams were winning, the Cajuns did not capitalize by trying to get donations. They are currently paying the price. Their ability to change -- accepting on-line donations, calling donors and students, promoting RCAF at games, hosting RCAF events throughout the state -- will determine whether the Cajuns can realistically improve or whether the Cajuns simply change coaches and get the same results. _
Re: Bustle, Lee, Rogers
Originally Posted by TillmansNumber1
_ The Cajuns problems with coaches and their contracts come from two different problems.
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