DC: Melvin Smith Fired

[MetryCajun]

Guys,

Bear Bryant could be our HC and we wouldn't compete with Boise. What you are seeing has been the result of the deck being slowly stacked against us. We are being out recruited and are not able to attract athletes that would allow us to compete. We are in a state that is over saturated with D1 programs and we are rounding out the bottom of the barrel. The last 7 years has been great, but the ship is correcting course. Just wait for baseball season, and don't get your hopes up.

Best post here. I am at a loss when I see people here talk about our talent. Where is it? Is Hud sending more or less players to the NFL than is predecessors? I can only speak to Nola talent, but we are not doing well here. In fact I would guess we do worse than all D1A programs not named ULM. Our recruiting has been terrible the past few years.
I am torn on firing the DC. On one hand it is obvious his scheme blows. I have no idea if he has the players he wants, but it is obvious his players make coverage mistakes and are frequently out of position. On the other hand Hud looks like a buffoon firing DC's all the time. Just a sad state of affairs.

[cajunhawk]

Hawk, take the tin foil hat off for a second dude. Like I said, Hud is fixing the problem as we speak. He should be applauded for doing so. He could keep his friend Melvin on the staff and go 4-8 again, but he didn't. He fired his friend right away. Coordinators come and go all throughout college football, it's not just us.
Hud is a perfectionist and he expects the best. He is perhaps the sole reason why we have enjoyed so much success in recent years.
In Hud we trust!
Give him some credit for recognizing a problem and trying to correct it immediately.

Hud is the problem. He said so in an interview a week ago.

[scotto_25]

Does he coach from the box or on the sidelines? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say if nobody saw him on the sidelines, he WAS NOT a part of Saturday's game. The odd 5hit that I saw at my tailgate leads me to believe that the falling out happened pregame'ish

[cajunhawk]

Does he coach from the box or on the sidelines? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say if nobody saw him on the sidelines, he WAS NOT a part of Saturday's game. The odd 5hit that I saw at my tailgate leads me to believe that the falling out happened pregame'ish

If he was the problem with the defense, and he was drunk and sent home...then why did the defense do so bad?

[The Messenger]

So, your suggesting that they just waited until after the game? Did Smith tank the game on purpose??!?!?! Is there already a riff in the locker rooom??? Where is that parrot to call me a troll? Has he had his crackers today? Does he not believe in The Message?

So many questions...

Seriously, elaborate on this falling out...

[ULGrad@HOU]

Does he coach from the box or on the sidelines? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say if nobody saw him on the sidelines, he WAS NOT a part of Saturday's game. The odd 5hit that I saw at my tailgate leads me to believe that the falling out happened pregame'ish

They had announced before the game that he and Lucas would be up in the box.

[Just1More]

If he was the problem with the defense, and he was drunk and sent home...then why did the defense do so bad?

They were his drinking buddies?

[HelmutVII]

He just got a head start on the rest of the staff that will be fired after the game this week with McNeese.

[FormerPokeCenter]

Fair enough. I'm good with it.

So what type of defensive scheme did Lucas run during his time at SLU and NW State?

I think he was a 4-3-4 guy at SLU...maybe some 3-3-5 thrown in for good measure...

Same at NWstrn....

[SlickRick]

Does he coach from the box or on the sidelines? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say if nobody saw him on the sidelines, he WAS NOT a part of Saturday's game. The odd 5hit that I saw at my tailgate leads me to believe that the falling out happened pregame'ish

Have to admit, what you witnessed must have a connection with what happened today. I've heard about a few flare ups between them last season to not totally surprising.

I worry about the effect it could have on the players. Hope they handle this situation well.

[mxt3999]

Best post here. I am at a loss when I see people here talk about our talent. Where is it? Is Hud sending more or less players to the NFL than is predecessors? I can only speak to Nola talent, but we are not doing well here. In fact I would guess we do worse than all D1A programs not named ULM. Our recruiting has been terrible the past few years.
I am torn on firing the DC. On one hand it is obvious his scheme blows. I have no idea if he has the players he wants, but it is obvious his players make coverage mistakes and are frequently out of position. On the other hand Hud looks like a buffoon firing DC's all the time. Just a sad state of affairs.

Of course we are not the most talented bunch. We are in the Sun Belt and have to compete with that other team across the basin. But we have enough talent to compete and win the conference. And obviously we have the talent to beat teams from other conferences in bowl games.
Melvin Smith didn't work out. He was horrible at Auburn, which is why he was fired from there. Hud took him in and it just didn't work out. His scheme and the way he prepared the players was blatantly awful. I'm just glad Hud has the balls to make a change like that right now.

I still think we can win 7 or 8 games in our schedule (if the defense improves)

[scotto_25]

I'm NOT saying he was drunk. I'm saying that it was odd how he was acting at like 9:15 "doing The Cajun Walk" wayyyy after the team walked. The Boise St color guy thought it was all weird as well. He was in street clothes and seemed kind of dazed as if he was lost....? It will get out, but I'm speculating that he wasn't part of the game