Louisiana Is ...

[zephyr]

The team was poorly coached and led. Our talent level is fine for the sunbelt. We lack some depth, also because of the poor leadership.

Good players go out and make plays. Walker did that despite the "poor coaching". Nobody else did though. It's more than that.

[CharlieK]

Good players go out and make plays. Walker did that despite the "poor coaching". Nobody else did though. It's more than that.

Nobody? We did win some games. My point is that there seems to be a general debate if our main problem is lack of talent or lack of development. I think our depth has been hit by the sanctions (that's on the coaches) but that our biggest problem is that we have not developed the talent we have gotten. You always want MORE talent...more 3 stars, an occasional 4 star, some 2 stars that flew under the radar etc. But our BIGGEST problem the last several years is nobody seemed to get significantly better because our coaches developed them. Especially the skill guys.

[MetryCajun]

Nobody? We did win some games. My point is that there seems to be a general debate if our main problem is lack of talent or lack of development. I think our depth has been hit by the sanctions (that's on the coaches) but that our biggest problem is that we have not developed the talent we have gotten. You always want MORE talent...more 3 stars, an occasional 4 star, some 2 stars that flew under the radar etc. But our BIGGEST problem the last several years is nobody seemed to get significantly better because our coaches developed them. Especially the skill guys.

With very rare exceptions, most good players at UL have made their mark immediately as Freshman or Transfers. We rarely see a guy who is a non contributor early in his career become a difference maker for us late in his career. Even on the OL and DL our better players contributed as first year players. This tells me we have a two fold problem:
1. Our talent pool is very shallow. We rarely have talented players “waiting in the wings” and have a hard time filling up our starting 22 with premium players.
2. We are not turning enough of our developmental players into solid contributors. I heard a lot of people the past few years say recruits were “raw” and would be good players in two to three years. History indicates this will be the exception not the rule.

Napier’s key to success will not be utilizing his 7 or 8 premium players, but getting players 9-22 to play at a Division 1 level. This is what hud did in his first few years, but could not get done in his last few.

[Boomer]

Something I guess we are very curious about is how we would fare in another conference....what effect it would have on recruiting and with the move to Cusa, AAC, or even big 12 how we could do..."my guess is that with a new or super enhanced FB stadium we could compete against say all but about 6-10 in facilities all sports considered....so we go against other factors, but just wondering what the switch could bring...would we get killed or actually be a leader in all sports...baseball and softball we are there with anybody, but what about the rest???

[CharlieK]

With very rare exceptions, most good players at UL have made their mark immediately as Freshman or Transfers. We rarely see a guy who is a non contributor early in his career become a difference maker for us late in his career.

And that's why our program has almost always been poor to mediocre.

[MetryCajun]

Player development is the most difficult and least efficient way to build a winner. Unfortunately, since we are in the SBC and do not get lots of game ready athletes it needs to be an important part of our success plan.

[CharlieK]

Player development is the most difficult and least efficient way to build a winner. Unfortunately, since we are in the SBC and do not get lots of game ready athletes it needs to be an important part of our success plan.

LOL least efficient....unless it's the ONLY way. Then it's the most efficient. We aren't going to start getting levels higher recruits without 1) winning or 2) cheating. We will not win, until we do a better job of developing who we get. I expect Napier to recruit better...but until he does more with what we already get, we will be stuck in the mud.

[MetryCajun]

LOL least efficient....unless it's the ONLY way. Then it's the most efficient. We aren't going to start getting levels higher recruits without 1) winning or 2) cheating. We will not win, until we do a better job of developing who we get. I expect Napier to recruit better...but until he does more with what we already get, we will be stuck in the mud.

Agree. I also expect Nap to do better in recruiting, but honestly we are currently one of the worst so there is nowhere to go but up.
I really want to see if he can turn one of these QB’s into a productive playmaker. That would be measurable success on the player development side.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Skill players rarely get enough better to displace the current players and newest skill players at virtually all institutions. They become role players. No doubt if Napier hits well on an average of 9 players a year and the rest become role players we're gonna be pretty happy. Hud wasn't hitting anywhere near 9.

[Just1More]

Do we have some talent deficits? Yes. Did we have some head coach and staff deficits? Did sanctions hurt our recruiting? Yes. Did a decline following 9-4 seasons/bowl wins create more recruiting issues? Yes. Does the SBC limit our recruiting? Yes. Did Hud have talent he failed to utilize properly? Yes. Do we still have talent? Yes. Can a new coach and staff close a gap in year one with average talent? Yes. Should we expect it? No. Could it happen regardless? Yes.

We won in year one of Hud due to a carryover talent and some additional recruits... coupled with an excellent S&C coach and a mountain of Hud Hype that got the most out of that talent. It was sustained somewhat. Hud began eating his own hype and the coaching stagnated. He let players convince him that the S&C was too difficult - tying it to preseason injuries. From Hud’s own staff... describe Hud in 3 words... “Me, me, me”... it caught up with him... and then us.

Personally... I think Napier will run a much better program than we’ve ever seen. But I don’t expect the instant result Hud got in year one. .500 may be realistic. Without anything more than fortune/misfortune... we could win 8 or win 4. For many reasons I won’t elaborate... I will leave year one as purely developmental... less about outcomes and more about incremental progress. If the players give Napier their very best, we’ll create a foundation this year... and build on it.

[cajunhawk]

Agree. I also expect Nap to do better in recruiting, but honestly we are currently one of the worst so there is nowhere to go but up.
I really want to see if he can turn one of these QB's into a productive playmaker. That would be measurable success on the player development side.

[CharlieK]

I love when cookie monster be coming around.