Head Coaching Carousel

[moorecajun]

I'm assuming you're addressing me. I said most of the over 50 crowd. MOST. 10 people on RP doesnt speak for the majority.

The statement is true. There are a boat load of older fans that think 9-4 with a NOLA Bowl appearance is just fine. They are not interested in the progress the younger generation speaks of.

I was addressing you. And I want to address this statement. BECAUSE we have sat through so many god awful seasons 9-4 with a NOLA Bowl appearance is and was fine, is and was fine, is and was fine, is and was fine. Would you not take that this year?

Now with that said, let's talk about the "progress the younger generation speaks of". Of course I would like to be undefeated every year, win every game, trounce our opponent. But I don't understand why you want to make this an age issue. We have gone through the best 4 years in our programs' history, that is not progress, that is not progress enough?

I personally don't understand why several posters on here are so bitter among themselves.

I personally don't understand how someone knows what I am or am not interested in, especially because of my age.

I personally don't know how we had such a bad season ... I personally would have been VERY happy with a 9-4 season AND another trip to NOLA. Instead I'll do yard work and go to a Christmas party or two.

Every year under Hud we have won games that were close, maybe we shouldn't have won. This year we lost those games. Winning seems to hide a lot of problems.

The thing I am most disjointed in this year is that I don't feel the preparation was made before the season began. Now at the end of the year they seem to realize that; that there plan for the season was not very good.

Enough. My point is, don't build barriers when they aren't needed.

[moorecajun]

You need to try some Wild Turkey American Honey Sting .... its a Honey Bourbon with ghost pepper mixed in. Smooth with a kick at the end. BigEd turned me onto the Sting after his recent trip to Kentucky.

So, I've got to setup a road trip to Kentucky to get some? Don't get me wrong, I'm all in on road trips!

[ManAboutTown]

You parallel my thoughts most of the time, MAT. I'm not following this older people are less interested in progress versus the younger generation. I see no proof of that in my circles. I can't really say that I find it to be an age related issue.

I don't mean to stress the age aspect necessarily. My point is, there is a segment of our fan base that would rather not deal with the "hassle" of being a big time program. Money people especially, that enjoy their spot at the table, that enjoy the easy access to the coach, that enjoy their "position" as someone who matters, would prefer things to stay relatively similar to its current state.

It just so happens that usually when I've encountered them, they're usually older, weary of losing fans. People like Jay Walker who will always cite the "bad times" as an excuse when we beat bad SBC teams by small margins or getting b-slapped by LaTech, or don't compete against inferior OOC teams.

As long as success, of any kind, APPEARS to be taking place, that segment will be as comfortable as Scott Farmer and the admin in the belt.

[BirdofParadise]

Josh, I make no excuses for this year. It has sucked.

And, as I said earlier, if we have another season like this one, then we talk.

But you seem really hell bent on turning up a fire where, right now, none is necessary.

And, yes, I will always remember the bad times. I lived through them more than most, having been at those games, especially in the late 90's, early 2000s.

We would all do well to remember where we came from. And, this old ____er doesn't apologize for that.

I ABSOLUTELY don't want a return to those days. The difference between me and you is I don't see where we are headed in that direction.

If that makes me a "sunshine pumper" I'm good with it.

I'm not "comfortable" in the Belt. I just don't worry about it because there's nothing on the horizon that's going to give us an opportunity to change that.

I think HUD is a good coach. And, because I feel that way, I believe this year was a blip on the radar screen. I prefer to believe we are going to be better.

I think you, on the other hand, get joy out of anticipating disaster. That isn't in my makeup. That doesn't make either one of us bad people.

And, I would appreciate it if you would remember that when using my name in your tirades.

[Just1More]

I don't mean to stress the age aspect necessarily. My point is, there is a segment of our fan base that would rather not deal with the "hassle" of being a big time program. Money people especially, that enjoy their spot at the table, that enjoy the easy access to the coach, that enjoy their "position" as someone who matters, would prefer things to stay relatively similar to its current state.

It just so happens that usually when I've encountered them, they're usually older, weary of losing fans. People like Jay Walker who will always cite the "bad times" as an excuse when we beat bad SBC teams by small margins or getting b-slapped by LaTech, or don't compete against inferior OOC teams.

As long as success, of any kind, APPEARS to be taking place, that segment will be as comfortable as Scott Farmer and the admin in the belt.

I think you're referring to the people that have significant relationships with UL. Those are mostly going to be older people. They, like Jay, are in a unique situation. Outside of that unique group, I don't think there's an age relationship to the high or low fan expectation. That's just my observation.

You probably hang around a lot more 25 to 35 year olds than I do. You see... when I was that age... I wore my thong on my head. I appeared to be more brazen. I was actually just more intoxicated.

[CajunT]

Josh, I make no excuses for this year. It has sucked.

And, as I said earlier, if we have another season like this one, then we talk.

But you seem really hell bent on turning up a fire where, right now, none is necessary.

And, yes, I will always remember the bad times. I lived through them more than most, having been at those games, especially in the late 90's, early 2000s.

We would all do well to remember where we came from. And, this old ____er doesn't apologize for that.

I ABSOLUTELY don't want a return to those days. The difference between me and you is I don't see where we are headed in that direction.

If that makes me a "sunshine pumper" I'm good with it.

I'm not "comfortable" in the Belt. I just don't worry about it because there's nothing on the horizon that's going to give us an opportunity to change that.

I think HUD is a good coach. And, because I feel that way, I believe this year was a blip on the radar screen. I prefer to believe we are going to be better.

I think you, on the other hand, get joy out of anticipating disaster. That isn't in my makeup. That doesn't make either one of us bad people.

And, I would appreciate it if you would remember that when using my name in your tirades.

Man, what's up with this age discrimination thing? Should we all be discussing AARP now? LOL!!!

[BirdofParadise]

I think you're referring to the people that have significant relationships with UL. Those are mostly going to be older people. They, like Jay, are in a unique situation. Outside of that unique group, I don't think there's an age relationship to the high or low fan expectation. That's just my observation.

You probably hang around a lot more 25 to 35 year olds than I do. You see... when I was that age... I wore my thong on my head. I appeared to be more brazen. I was actually just more intoxicated.

As was I. Oh, the days of rock and roll radio.........

[CajunT]

I think you're referring to the people that have significant relationships with UL. Those are mostly going to be older people. They, like Jay, are in a unique situation. Outside of that unique group, I don't think there's an age relationship to the high or low fan expectation. That's just my observation.

You probably hang around a lot more 25 to 35 year olds than I do. You see... when I was that age... I wore my thong on my head. I appeared to be more brazen. I was actually just more intoxicated.

Matt, as you have gotten older I think your choices in the colors of the thongs you wear on your head haven been more moderate. I'm not so sure you are any less intoxicated at times. LOL!!!

[RaisingCajun08]

So, I've got to setup a road trip to Kentucky to get some? Don't get me wrong, I'm all in on road trips!

You can find it at various places around the Acadiana area. So far I have found some at Rouses in Youngsville, Rees Street Market in Breaux Bridge, and Millers in Loreauville.

One day I will be like MelRock and take a trip down the Bourbon Trail.

[Cajun90]

I'll add my .02 to this discussion. A lot contributed to this season's problems but I don't for one minute think it is because we have "bad" coaches or players. There is so much that goes into making a TEAM and sometimes it just doesn't come together.

I recall a few baseball seasons over the past decade where we underwhelmed and I don't think anyone would argue the fact that Tony is a great coach and those same players came back in subsequent seasons and made dramatic improvements.

In life everyone wants to look for one simple answer to fix "the problem". In reality that is rarely the case. As someone who has spent a considerable amount of time evaluating industrial accidents I can tell you that it is almost always a cascade of failures at multiple levels that ultimately creates a major disaster.

So this year we have some injuries and we don't fill those holes very well physically. We also lose some on the field leadership. We have some missteps in the scheme (ref. two qb's). We start shuffling players around to fill holes because of more injuries. We lose confidence. Instead of player leadership we get infighting. We out think ourselves trying to "fix it" (coaches).

Welcome to a poor year in the win column.

[ManAboutTown]

Josh, I make no excuses for this year. It has sucked.

And, as I said earlier, if we have another season like this one, then we talk.

But you seem really hell bent on turning up a fire where, right now, none is necessary.

And, yes, I will always remember the bad times. I lived through them more than most, having been at those games, especially in the late 90's, early 2000s.

We would all do well to remember where we came from. And, this old ____er doesn't apologize for that.

I ABSOLUTELY don't want a return to those days. The difference between me and you is I don't see where we are headed in that direction.

If that makes me a "sunshine pumper" I'm good with it.

I'm not "comfortable" in the Belt. I just don't worry about it because there's nothing on the horizon that's going to give us an opportunity to change that.

I think HUD is a good coach. And, because I feel that way, I believe this year was a blip on the radar screen. I prefer to believe we are going to be better.

I think you, on the other hand, get joy out of anticipating disaster. That isn't in my makeup. That doesn't make either one of us bad people.

And, I would appreciate it if you would remember that when using my name in your tirades.

Well, I would hardly call them "tirades". I used your name because most people associated with Cajun athletics can recognize the example, and as you've stated in the above post, it fits. We can agree to disagree, but demons of the past should never steer your vehicle toward the future. I'm young enough to remember those days too. Obviously not in the same capacity as you Jay, but it did kinda suck to be in the select few that actually went and rooted for the Cajuns. Not much interest back then from the community at large. Things have changed. It looks like we've finally made a commitment to athletics. And the thing is, just like with out athletic budget, we can't afford to miss much. We can't afford to miss on $1 million dollars 3 years in a row. We don't have the history, the support, the alumni backing, or the national brand to back-track. If we don't continue to capitalize NOW, we'll head right back into the dark that you speak of.

I do not take "joy" in anticipating disaster. I prefer to find solutions before the ship wrecks into the god damn rock. You've said many times, you watch the games differently than fans do. Well, I'll steal a page from your book and say, I probably watch the game differently than most fans do as well. I won't bog us down into the minutia of that, but I'm rarely concerned about that stats of a football game. I look for assignment sound football, discipline, checks and reads, schemes, route trees, does the staff understand what to do when, using personnel correctly, adapting and evolving, development of players, etc etc. These are the things that will tell you what kind of staff you have, and thats what I'm interested in.

Terrance Broadway covered a lot of ills. So did Zo, Ringo, Hamilton, Andersen, on and on.. I've been concerned about our people running the show for a few years now, and I've said that here. This year was a culmination of a lot of things. Injuries? Bad luck? Timing? Law of averages? All probably played a part, yes. Did injuries throw a pick 6 with seconds left in the half against Tech? A play that in a million years should never be called? Did injuries botch the QB situation in the spring and into the season? Did injuries cause the locker room to be in COMPLETE disarray? There are many other issues that I won't get into.

Hell bent? Yea, I'm hell bent on telling you that this is not a blip. Hudspeth is better than we've had, but he's not a million dollar coach, and his ceiling is much lower than people around the program think. Take out the FCS games, and the no chance P5 games. Then take out the bottom feeders of the SBC. He should be judged, starting year 2, on what he's done in about 6 games a year. The guy is 7-12 in OOC games. Thats good to you? Ok. I expect more, in this league, with this schedule.

[ManAboutTown]

I'll add my .02 to this discussion. A lot contributed to this season's problems but I don't for one minute think it is because we have "bad" coaches or players. There is so much that goes into making a TEAM and sometimes it just doesn't come together.

I recall a few baseball seasons over the past decade where we underwhelmed and I don't think anyone would argue the fact that Tony is a great coach and those same players came back in subsequent seasons and made dramatic improvements.

In life everyone wants to look for one simple answer to fix "the problem". In reality that is rarely the case. As someone who has spent a considerable amount of time evaluating industrial accidents I can tell you that it is almost always a cascade of failures at multiple levels that ultimately creates a major disaster.

So this year we have some injuries and we don't fill those holes very well physically. We also lose some on the field leadership. We have some missteps in the scheme (ref. two qb's). We start shuffling players around to fill holes because of more injuries. We lose confidence. Instead of player leadership we get infighting. We out think ourselves trying to "fix it" (coaches).

Welcome to a poor year in the win column.

Arkansas St, (I would assume you would consider them a peer), has done continued to win or compete for this conference championship every year. They compete every year with their OOC schedule. They've done it with several different players, coaches, QB's.

Thats too much to ask for? For a million bucks, thats too much to expect?

If I'm wrong, I'll publicly say it. I'll go back and answer every post with "I was wrong, you are right".