Louisiana gets commitment from Neville High's Mitchell

[cajun4life]

I think he will be a 3 year starter.

[basinbear]

I think he will be a 3 year starter.

Entirely possible

[Rainman66]

I will take 3 year starters all day long. However, adding quality depth that creates competition at every position is really my hope for this staff. Good talent, good coaching & good internal competition produces us a program that will put our Ragin' Cajuns on the football map.

[KajunKrazy]

Huds first couple of recruiting classes were real nice it seems like... Landed Alonzo Harris,Carter, Quave brothers, Sean Thomas, Tovell, Ringo, Hamilton and alot others. (McGuire???) I'm not sure what happened but that talent fell off quickly...

Didn't bustles staff recruit the older quave?

[CajunT]

Didn't bustles staff recruit the older quave?

Yes,Daniel Quave.

[Clutch0364]

Didn't bustles staff recruit the older quave?

You are correct.

[Cajunsmike]

As I said I will not comment on any single recruit and wait to see where we end up. By my count we need 6-7 players to step in immediately to salvage a winning season next year.
My narrative is that we suck at recruiting. A point that I think most of you would agree with. I do believe Napier is the guy to turn it around but it is not going to be easy, especially with Louisiana kids currently looking at us as option #4 in the state.

MetryCajun, one nugget to pass on when you speak to out of town sports fans is that our budget for assistant coaches and support staff is now in the Top 5 of the G5 schools in the nation. That is how we were able to get a successful FBS head coach to take a job as our DC. As far as the pecking order in the state goes, I agree that from recent results we are No. 4 in the state. However we easily have the 2nd best facilities in the state and we need to emphasize that. As I said earlier, the key to success is to develop the players that do join the program. Too many guys did not improve from year to year in recent seasons. Of course there is no way to know how successful they will be in that regard at this stage. You are right about one thing. This is not a quick fix and I think all of us are aware that we may not move from where we are to the conference championship in 2018. That does not mean we can't make progress this coming year.

[MetryCajun]

MetryCajun, one nugget to pass on when you speak to out of town sports fans is that our budget for assistant coaches and support staff is now in the Top 5 of the G5 schools in the nation. That is how we were able to get a successful FBS head coach to take a job as our DC. As far as the pecking order in the state goes, I agree that from recent results we are No. 4 in the state. However we easily have the 2nd best facilities in the state and we need to emphasize that. As I said earlier, the key to success is to develop the players that do join the program. Too many guys did not improve from year to year in recent seasons. Of course there is no way to know how successful they will be in that regard at this stage. You are right about one thing. This is not a quick fix and I think all of us are aware that we may not move from where we are to the conference championship in 2018. That does not mean we can't make progress this coming year.

Mike you are correct about the facilities. Since my son is a senior I know a few area kids and parents who are considering UL. All are blown away with the APC and how nice the campus dorms are. Unfortunately, it has not been enough to sway the players we really want. Hopefully Napier can find the missing piece to land these kids.

I Am still desperately trying to make a basketball game this year, but I am running out of time. Looks like it might have to be the SBC tournament. Hope to see you there.

[CajunDreDog]

I don't think the perspective of the zealots has changed. For most recruits, UL has "beat out" the likes of McNeese, Nichols and Southern for "diamonds in the rough" going back to Jerry Baldwin. I am sure a couple of these recruits will be late bloomers, but most are no more than glorified FCS players who will never sniff a NFL training camp. For UL to compete with P5 schools on a regular basis, they need to consistently "beat out" G5 schools for recruits who also had offers from lower level P5 schools

Mostly, I agree with this, but I don't think we are ever competing with Southern for recruits. The other schools, yes. Southern is in a different class than those other two FCS schools. They are WAY at the bottom of all the FCS, in the SWAC. They are more likley fighting with D-II schools for recruits.

[Cajunfanatico]

I don't expect a conference championship in 2018. But what I do expect is to see us field a team that from Day One appears to be ready to play, disciplined, well-coached, and a staff that does not need half the season to start figuring things out.