Cajuns Football: A Slow Climb

[J-Town Cajun]

_ There are only "2" programs in the country with lower budgets to work with than ours. In our conference, there is only 1. In spite of that, only Troy has more wins than us in the past 5 years. In the state, only LSU has more during the same 5 years.

We continue to hand our program 2 to 3 losses before they get started each year, then demand the team wins the 7 or 8 of the remaind 9 or so games. Is that realistic? _

Besides ULM, who is the other team with a lower budget?

[HoustonCajun]

_ You did not address my question concerning years like next year... which will include "3" very strong BCS programs. Will you expect us to win 7 of our last 9 games? And will that be expected of any future coaches we have? _

That's what Troy did this year, although they played 2 instead of 3 BCS teams. This lost an opening game to Bowling Green that they expected to win, then lost to Florida, and won all the rest of their games (8-0 in conference and a win over UAB) and lost to Arkansas, their 3rd to last game, to finish 9-3. We don't play all the BCS teams back to back to start the year next year. Ole Miss comes late in the year. So, we could start off 1-2 if we beat Ohio with a likely 3rd loss coming later at Ole Miss. It is the conference games that we need to win and go 6-2 or 7-1 giving us either 7 or 8 wins. I don't mind playing the big boys, in fact I'm glad we are. On paper, we should have a pretty salty team next year. It is time to take care of this conference and quit screwing around. We have flirted with 6-6 records for too long now. We play in the worse conference in the country. We should be picked in the top 3 next year. We wanna be 1A, then step our game up.

And, as for Bustle, I thought we needed a change, too. But, we have him for another year, so let's make the best of it. What really needs to happen is changes to the infrastructure that will equip either Bustle or his replacement after next year to win. In the absence of that, even a new coach would face the same impediments that Bustle has faced. We'd be excited for a year or two, then this starts all over again. Fix it internally first, then success will come.

[CajunRed]

_ Let me put a reverse spin on the spin. Programs have joined (or hell, even started playing football) in DIV1 FBS and won bowl games faster than our slow climb (UCF, FAU).

Don't bring up money. W's and L's are all that I'm talking about. There's ways to get money that we did not source in the past outside of the missing RCAF. Money should never have been an excuse. Ever. _

So I assume you have season tickets AND contribute a sizable amount to the athletic foundation.

[cmonman]

_ Recruiting recruiting recruiting...this coaching staff does not recruit well enough to get us over the hump. I appreciate what Bustle has done to get us out of the crapper but he has gotten us as far as he can. In the words of Bill Parcells "you are what your record says you are" and right now we are mediocre and have been mediocre for 5 years. Lets look at the fact that Bustle has only beaten one team that finished with a winning record in 8 years (houston). All the excuses about well we have won the most games in LA behind Lsu the last 4 or 5 years...seriously who is good in this state? At least it seems like Tech and ULM want to be better, I don't feel that from our guys. All i keep hearing from our admin and Bustle is how happy they are at 6-6...when will someone come out and say this is not good enough! If Bustle would come out anx say 6-6 is not good enough, i would gain more respect in him. Don't just feed us bull____ about were are improving and we had a good year.
igeaux.mobi _

I agree with you it is all about recruiting this week has been unbelievable. To keep Bustle another year is unheard of this really lets us know where Walker and Sav stand they dont care. If the cajuns got into a bowl game and made some money we would not even be having this talk. What is sad is I PERSONALLY know Joe Deforest wants the job but last time he could not even get an interview and our DC Kevin Fouq was basically hired because John Porche told Bustle to hire him watching athelete after athelete leave Lafayette to go to other schools is unbelievable Look at Ricky Johnson and Jordan James sign with Tulsa is an insult. Not to mention Cameron Dejuan going to Tulane along with Bullock the kid from CH of New Iberia Cooper Gerami goes to Northwestern I mean it just does not stop Bustle and his staff could not recruit cold weather out of a snow storm.I have watched for years it is unbelievable because i really believe the Cajuns could compete year end and year out NATIONALLY not just in the Sun Belt We have the atheletes we just have to recruit them it is pretty simple when you recruit a kid you go into his home and you tell him you are there for 3 reasons 1 Because he is a good person 2 Because he is a good student and you want to give him a chance to get a FREE education 3 You want to offer him a chance to play bigtime D1 football you win the parents over and continue to follow up. Hey if Early Doucet wants to play football and basketball let him encourage it and if Mahtook wants to play football and baseball let him.Our current staff thinks they are hot stuff and they are a joke and disgrace to the university I mean You have to have people skills and sell the university its that easy Do you really think our staff can do that NO.

[CajunRage]

At this point in the schools history we should be a ".500 program". By my definition, this means beating teams that are below .500, wining half of the games against other .500 teams, and losing to teams that are above .500. Let's take a look at this years schedule:

Southern 4 - 4
Kansas State 6 - 6
@ LSU 9 - 3
@ Nebraska 9 - 3
North Texas 2 - 10
@ Western Kentucky 0 - 12
Florida Atlantic 4 - 7
@ FIU 3 - 8
@ Arkansas State 4 - 8
@ Middle Tennessee 9 - 3
ULM 6 - 6
Troy 9 - 3

Southern is a win because of inferior division. Based on the above formula, we should have finished 7-5, but we won both games against .500 teams and therefore should have finished this season with an 8-4. Our expectations should have nothing to do with our final record, but how we fare based on our competition.

CajunRed, this takes into account your theory of us playing 3 bcs teams and losing. If we finish 6-6 beating the teams we should, I'm pretty sure people would be willing to accept that. BUT we lost to 2 teams with sub .500 records and that is unacceptable.

[CajunRed]

I'm out of this conversion.

[Turbine]

_ I'm out of this conversion. _

Well you made some good points along the way.

I'm out too . . . have to go to work

[Parrott]

Arkansas State.

Keep in mind that every Sun Belt school but the Cajuns and ULM collect student fees. I believe FIU gets $21 of its $24 million for athletics from student fees. That's the main reason why Cristobal is the league's highest paid coach and his assistants are the highest paid combined in the conference.

Besides ULM, who is the other team with a lower budget?

igeaux.mobi

[Damon]

So I assume you have season tickets AND contribute a sizable amount to the athletic foundation.

My location dictates that I don't have season tickets. If I felt like there was a plan for my money that doesn't involve retaining a coach for 8 years to do what most coaches do in 2, I'm in.

That's the weakest, most played out comeback on the boards.

[CajunRed]

_ My location dictates that I don't have season tickets. If I felt like there was a plan for my money that doesn't involve retaining a coach for 8 years to do what most coaches do in 2, I'm in.

That's the weakest, most played out comeback on the boards. _

Then don't say money isn't a reason... if you don't give any. Can't complain from the sidelines.

[Hammer58]

_ Then don't say money isn't a reason... if you don't give any. Can't complain from the sidelines. _

I give of time and money so by your standards my complaints have merit. And I agree with much of what he has stated in arguing against your position and disagree with accepting mediocrity. As others have stated, even with the 3 BCS games, we should still be above average in conference and not lose games we are supposed to win against the bottom of our conference. After the better than expected start against the OOC schedule this year if we take care of business in conference we are looking at at least 7 wins. That still allows three conference losses. Add in the unexpected win against ASU and we are standing at 8 wins this year. That is what a good staff is supposed to achieve. That is what gets a coach extensions and raises, not mediocre 6-6 seasons year after year. And now we are already hearing the excuses for next year. The schedule is too tough. Well North Texas dominated this league for several years losing every OOC game and then running the table in conference. And now Troy is doing about the same. There is no reason we should expect less from our staff.

[Turbine]

Louisiana is a recROUXting hotbed.

Due to proximity UL should be able to do twice as good with half as much.


igeaux.mobi

[CajunRed]

_ I give of time and money so by your standards my complaints have merit. And I agree with much of what he has stated in arguing against your position and disagree with accepting mediocrity. As others have stated, even with the 3 BCS games, we should still be above average in conference and not lose games we are supposed to win against the bottom of our conference. After the better than expected start against the OOC schedule this year if we take care of business in conference we are looking at at least 7 wins. That still allows three conference losses. Add in the unexpected win against ASU and we are standing at 8 wins this year. That is what a good staff is supposed to achieve. That is what gets a coach extensions and raises, not mediocre 6-6 seasons year after year. And now we are already hearing the excuses for next year. The schedule is too tough. Well North Texas dominated this league for several years losing every OOC game and then running the table in conference. And now Troy is doing about the same. There is no reason we should expect less from our staff. _

We finished 6 and 6. According to your reasoning, everyone else on our schedule should be saying right now that they should have beat us begin we did not have a winning season... which means we would all be talking in circles.

Point is... not all teams that don't finish with a winning record are necessarily bad teams. If I'm not mistaken, K State almost won the Big 12 north.

[Hammer58]

_ We finished 6 and 6. According to your reasoning, everyone else on our schedule should be saying right now that they should have beat us begin we did not have a winning season... which means we would all be talking in circles.

Point is... not all teams that don't finish with a winning record are necessarily bad teams. If I'm not mistaken, K State almost won the Big 12 north. _

??????????? Thats got me dizzy right there.

So because expectations were low to start the season (more to do with our history of underperforming than the 3 BCS games) we should accept losing to two of the worst teams in conference this year? Pre-season polls and expectations mean nothing once play begins. this team showed they had talent to be better than pre-season expectations. I believe it was poor coaching that led us to underachieve once again and lose to two of the poorer teams in conference.

When we hired Ricky Bustle did we say we were looking for a coach to take us from bad to mediocre? At what point do we say mediocre is not good enough?

[champgolfpro]

_ Bustle has lead the slowest climb in the history of the NCAA. A worst record than Baldwin in year one. It took two years and three years to improve one game better than Baldwin. Back up in year one he had two NFL players on the team and did worse than Baldwin. It took 4 years to get 3 games better than Baldwin and after eight years he still has never been more than three games better than Baldwin. If its not the slowest climb in the history of the NCAA it real close. Bustle is only worth three wins, there is someone out there better than this for cheaper. _

for real......

BUSTLE: 3-9 year 1 12 games
4-8 year 2 12 games
4-7 year 3 11 games


BALDWIN:
2-9 year 1 11- games... dont see how thats a better record than Bustle, maybe if Bustle had an 11 game schedule in year 1 then maybe.

1-10 year 2 11 games.......THAT'S RIGHT 1-AND F'IN 10

3-8 11 games FOR A TOTAL OF 6 WINS TO BUSTLE'S 12 IN HIS FIRST 3 YEARS!!!!

Bustle took over a program that was in the toilet, hardly NO SCHOLARSHIPS, criminals on the team, Baldwin's ONLY recruit was Fred Stamps, who is a great kid! ....toss out Bustle's first 3 years and look what we have done the last 5...25 wins and a conference title in 2005, yeah i'm tired of the "bowl eligible" also!!!! but DON"T compare Bustle to Jerry "Toothpick" Baldwin. Baldwin would NEVER win more than 3 games...

can you say we are any better off if Baldwin would have been here for 5 years?? i can say we are A LOT better shape that we are in since Bustle took over. we have enough schlorships, the players are graduating, facilities have had a face lift and will get better in the next 2-4 years. we are a MID MAJOR it takes time!

so give the man a little credit! just DON'T compare him to Baldwin! that's not fair! Baldwin is the reason it's takes this long to turn it around!