2014 loss to Mountaineers triggered '15 slide

[CajunEXPRESS]

Very true.

UL is 2 good plays from being 4-1.

Of course, they were also 2 bad plays away from losing the same 2 games in regulation and their record would be 2-3 if that had happened.

Again there were plenty of bad plays to put us in that need two plays back position. Plays that were stopped or allowed by the Cajuns rather than the other team.

[Duckster]

I read the article this morning and couldn't believe Coach Hud let himself be quoted that 2014 App St game was beginning of the slide that carried into 2015. From the looks of the article the reporter couldn't believe Hud said that either.

The thing is we seem to be coaching not to lose games, just timid, unimaginative play calling. The first couple of Coach Hud seasons he seemed to mostly let it rip and the players did, too. If you don't show more confidence in your own players who will? Maybe I'm wrong, but that mindset initiates the slide, not one game where you get dominated at the line of scrimmage.

[Big Buds]

This is absolutely comical! LTUR came in here and put us in this downward spiral. I know that's how I feel looking back.

[Just1More]

If we are going to assign him blame for the losses, then he gets credit for coaching in wins. He out coached the other guy 42 times at UL.

I don't think that's the issue. It's when has his coaching elevated the team's performance above it's apparent talent level? When has he done more with less? Ever? I think three of the 4 bowl wins he did. But after that the pickens are slim. And in many cases he had his pants pulled down by the other coach on national TV. I'm not sure why he coaches so well in the bowl games....outclassing 3 teams that were arguably better than us, but can't do it during the regular season, or really come even close.

I've always, in my opinion, credited Hud correctly. I credit him for the coaching skills called hype, energy and S&C. The evidence that these are his greatest qualities is, without question, his first year. You cannot claim you "out-coached" a slug... just because it resulted in victory. Give me Alabama's talent for one game... and I will demolish Hud and the Cajuns. I am not going to give Hud credit for edging out slugs. He "beat" some slugs... by narrow margins. He got his ___ handed to him by good... and great... teams. He does not "out-coach". I want him to. We need him to. I gave him credit for talent as Bustle's recruits left and his took over. Talent went down, not up... and I think his overall skills (hype, energy and S&C) went down.

I hope he has an epiphany and out-coaches App State. Let's watch the game and see if he does.

[Oiler]

This is absolutely comical! LTUR came in here and put us in this downward spiral. I know that's how I feel looking back.

No, after LTUR whipped our azzes that year, we still managed to turn things around and win the N.O. Bowl that year.

[ManAboutTown]

No, after LTUR whipped our azzes that year, we still managed to turn things around and win the N.O. Bowl that year.

Irrelevant. Tech exposed Hudspeth. That team was touted as our "best ever" and they couldn't compete with Tech. I don't care that we navigated a bottom of the barrel remaining schedule (but oh yea, didn't App St come in to Lafayette as an FCS call up and keep us from winning an SBC title) to get to 8-4.

Post the schedule that year and tell me how you feel about those wins..

[zephyr]

Nope. Even our bowls were all predominantly our fans and our athletes. The SDSU game was the most prominent game of stellar athletic play. Our WRs snagged everything near them. Our defense, with fans pushing them, pressured Lindley and shut down their super RB. Blaine heroically led that final drive. And Brett took advantage of a stemming penalty to edge SDSU. I do think Hud had more confidence in our players back in year 1. We played a much more balanced offense. And in our bowls, for whatever reason (probably the dominant fans and big stage) our athletes on defense rose to the occasion.

I don't recall a game that I saw us win the football coaching chess match. It just doesn't come to mind.

3 of the 4 bowl games were absolutely well coached and you have to attribute a lot more to the coach than saying that we won on guts and fans alone. That's crazy talk. ECU, Nevada and certainly SDSU were considered more prolific teams than us and we really played well in all facets against all of them. I will give Hud credit for those games just as I criticize him over what I've seen in recent weeks.

The problem with that is he never really built on those wins and it seems that we don't consistently show up with that type of game planning and preparation and you have to do that every week. I would say that is a big reason we've yet to be conference champs and build on what he's done.

[Just1More]

3 of the 4 bowl games were absolutely well coached and you have to attribute a lot more to the coach than saying that we won on guts and fans alone. That's crazy talk. ECU, Nevada and certainly SDSU were considered more prolific teams than us and we really played well in all facets against all of them. I will give Hud credit for those games just as I criticize him over what I've seen in recent weeks.

The problem with that is he never really built on those wins and it seems that we don't consistently show up with that type of game planning and preparation and you have to do that every week. I would say that is a big reason we've yet to be conference champs and build on what he's done.

I don't disagree that we haven't done much with our success. That's definitely the biggest noteworthy comment about Hud so far. I credit him for the first 4 years... for what it was for the program. But the fact that he never built on that success started making me look more closely at his actual coaching skills... all of them. And I can only see, with certainty, that he used to motivate a team with some kind of high energy coach to athlete enthusiasm. I think it got them to work hard. And I think they believed in themselves as a result. That is a very nice coaching asset. But it doesn't keep paying dividends. It has to be flanked with more overall coaching skills. And I do not buy that he doesn't get his fair share of SBC talent. He does. He just hasn't made the best decisions of how to coach them, technically, and how to play them on Saturdays. That's my opinion. I'm willing to hear others. But I've been hearing others... up to 100 people with good sound approaches... and I have been persuaded to look at things even harder... and I still come up with a similar view of Hud.

As for the SDSU game... I don't think SDSU was a prolific team. We were probably skilled out much more even than pundits would size us up. Hud did have that team ready for that bowl. I think it was easy to do. "You're playing in New Orleans in the first bowl this program even remembers it was in. You will play before the largest Cajun crowd you've ever seen. You're going to be on national TV." I do not think the preparation of SDSU could possibly include that kind of energy.

I think our athletes simply out played SDSU that day. We didn't blow them out. We edged out a win in the final moments... and that was with a huge homer crowd... in New Orleans. I was somewhat impressed with the way our teams played in the bowls... and I do mean the coaching preparation. I think we had sound game plans. We seemed to play our bowls with an attitude of "we're going to win this"... and every other game it seems like Hud is saying "we're going to keep this close, try not to lose the ball, try not to give up the big play, and see if we're close enough in the end to edge them out". I do not think the bowls were a matter of great coaching by Hud. It was just the kind of coaching that should exist all of the time at UL. He seems to drive with his foot on the brake for the regular season. In the bowls, I have to believe he says "We're already winners... this is just a bonus... you guys go have fun and open things up." My opinion isn't that he coached better in the bowls... it is that he doesn't coach well in many situations throughout the regular season. I get the feeling he is clamping down on the other coaches and the style of play.

My concept of Hud having an epiphany... and unfortunatley I think he has to have much more substantial failure than he has seen so far... is for him to realize that UL needs to be more of a wide open offense. We need the additional juice of an exciting offense to get a few more prolific athletes to come our way. He cannot climb inside of the tank and just try to bulldoze down the middle of the field. And that is what I see him doing when he reaches out during the regular season and gets his hand bit. You have to take some chances and make a lot of mistakes before you get a "put the spread in spread" offense to become synchronized. Hud kills the buzz before there's any chance of the buzz starting. Just the way I see it. No biggie.