Michael Desormeaux Press Conference - Nov. 13, 2023

[Turbine]

I think you were referring to Nelson Schexnayder, David’s Dad. I was privileged to be part of the Athletic Advisory Board Turbine referred to for a few years. Now Nelson is serving a call he finds rewarding as a deacon in the Catholic Church. David is his son, was a punter in the Bustle years, and now works in the RCAF organization. David had a diverse business career prior to taking on his current role.

Yes Nelson the Athletic Director not David the punter turned RCAF guy.

[Turbine]

I was privileged to be part of the Athletic Advisory Board Turbine referred to for a few years. .

How cool was that, I knew a couple/two/few of the other guys.

[CajunVic]

Positive? You made a personal attack towards me when I was trying to have a legitimate conversation. You're just as critical to fans who see an opposing view of concern for the teams they support as you claim they are to you. How is that positive?

. . . what I said was that you and your group put 4 hours of negative out there after the last two games . . . not once did I say what you said was wrong, all I said was it was a choice on your part . . . now, I ask you what positives do you think have come from repeating over and over and over again the same 4 or 5 things for a period of 4 hours . . . never have I sad that any negatators on this site or in podcasts have to do or not do anything . . . But I ask again what positives have come to Louisiana, its players and coaches from it . . .

[BabbForHeisman]

. . . what I said was that you and your group put 4 hours of negative out there after the last two games . . . not once did I say what you said was wrong, all I said was it was a choice on your part . . . now, I ask you what positives do you think have come from repeating over and over and over again the same 4 or 5 things for a period of 4 hours . . . never have I sad that any negatators on this site or in podcasts have to do or not do anything . . . But I ask again what positives have come to Louisiana, its players and coaches from it . . .

Can we turn that question around for a minute?

What good has it done for you come on here countless times over the past couple of years and ridicule anyone who thinks we could have afforded a better candidate? The way you portray your argument, whether you mean to or not, comes across as "Des is all we could afford." And if we're ranking negative thoughts about the athletic department that come from this board, that one is pretty high up there. That's why I've been fighting you for a while about it.

[Turbine]

. . . what I said was that you and your group put 4 hours of negative out there after the last two games . . . not once did I say what you said was wrong, all I said was it was a choice on your part . . . now, I ask you what positives do you think have come from repeating over and over and over again the same 4 or 5 things for a period of 4 hours . . . never have I sad that any negatators on this site or in podcasts have to do or not do anything . . . But I ask again what positives have come to Louisiana, its players and coaches from it . . .

That game is in the rear view mirror.

Somehow I feel that's a positive.

[CajunVic]

Can we turn that question around for a minute?

What good has it done for you come on here countless times over the past couple of years and ridicule anyone who thinks we could have afforded a better candidate? The way you portray your argument, whether you mean to or not, comes across as "Des is all we could afford." And if we're ranking negative thoughts about the athletic department that come from this board, that one is pretty high up there. That's why I've been fighting you for a while about it.

That’s not quite right . . . what I have done is come on here and repeatedly asked for names of coaches that would have been acceptable, that we could afford AND possibly would have come here . . . to this day it has been crickets . . . if the answer to that question is crickets then why are people continuing to complain about having hired CMD . . . Just looking for options and if there are no options then why complain . . .

[Turbine]

That’s not quite right . . . what I have done is come on here and repeatedly asked for names of coaches that would have been acceptable, that we could afford AND possibly would have come here . . . to this day it has been crickets . . . if the answer to that question is crickets then why are people continuing to complain about having hired CMD . . . Just looking for options and if there are no options then why complain . . .

You can't recreate the situationals.

But ones lamenting what happened or didn't happen is one way to remind oneself to never go down that path again.

So it sounds negative in the present but can have positive results in the future.

[JAB]

That’s not quite right . . . what I have done is come on here and repeatedly asked for names of coaches that would have been acceptable, that we could afford AND possibly would have come here . . . to this day it has been crickets . . . if the answer to that question is crickets then why are people continuing to complain about having hired CMD . . . Just looking for options and if there are no options then why complain . . .

I think there's actually a really important point implied here. Vic catches flak for two reasons: (1) because he is one of the sole voices who tries to be optimistic on certain topics and (2) because he jabs at people and pokes the bear. One of those is perfectly acceptable and the other can sometimes get out of hand.

The bigger problem is that his RP enemies start to conflate these two things, so anytime he presents a perfectly acceptable opposing viewpoint (i.e. optimism), people could interpret it as an attack. That's not to say that he shouldn't word things better sometimes, but can't we all? RP gets heated sometimes. That's just a reality.

[CajunVic]

You can't recreate the situationals.

But ones lamenting what happened or didn't happen is one way to remind oneself to never go down that path again.

So it sounds negative in the present but can have positive results in the future.

. . . still looking for the name of the guy we should have hired . . . pretty simple . . .

[BabbForHeisman]

That’s not quite right . . . what I have done is come on here and repeatedly asked for names of coaches that would have been acceptable, that we could afford AND possibly would have come here . . . to this day it has been crickets . . . if the answer to that question is crickets then why are people continuing to complain about having hired CMD . . . Just looking for options and if there are no options then why complain . . .

"Not quite right"

You usually tell people they are wrong. So I feel honored to be in the "not quite right" category.

But once again...all that matters is how a stance is perceived. And your stance has been perceived as "Des is all we could afford" (which is not that big of a step out from what you actually said). And your repeated insistence on that has created a negative light around the Des hire, whether you intended or not.

I like Des. I know Des. But the longer this topic is discussed, the more everyone realizes he was set up for failure. Which is a shame.

[CajunVic]

"Not quite right"

You usually tell people they are wrong. So I feel honored to be in the "not quite right" category.

But once again...all that matters is how a stance is perceived. And your stance has been perceived as "Des is all we could afford" (which is not that big of a step out from what you actually said). And your repeated insistence on that has created a negative light around the Des hire, whether you intended or not.

I like Des. I know Des. But the longer this topic is discussed, the more everyone realizes he was set up for failure. Which is a shame.

Again, you are not being quite honest, but that is not unusual . . .

[Turbine]

. . . still looking for the name of the guy we should have hired . . . pretty simple . . .

No national search and no ability to recreate situationals means you've asked a question that can't be answered