Cannot defend the trajectory of the program

[Crawfish]

I had high hopes for Des after they hired him, but I had serious doubts. One thing that I never bought into was the idea that Des could continue to do the same thing as Billy. To refresh our memory, that was given as one reason he was hired. No coach can (or should) try to be the same coach as the old coach. I think this was a false notion from the start. This put pressure on him from the start, especially given the mass defections after Billy left. Coaches with experience want to combine best practices from coaches they have worked for and create their own way. Unfortunately, Des had no other experience on the college level other than UL to draw from. Look at the various coaching systems that Billy was exposed to before coming to UL. I personally believe that Des was not set up to win. This was a disservice to both the program and to him. I have seen some people at work promoted before they were ready, and it was almost never good. In that situation, you hope they grow into the position. IMO, in this case, going from a tight ends coach to head coach is too big of a leap. He still may be able to turn things around next season, but he will have to make some hard decisions that seem out of character for him. Here are the things I believe he should consider:

1. Embrace the portal, at least to replace players we lose to the portal. Like Des, I hate the portal but this is the FBS world we live in today.

2. He needs to analyze the defense, which seemed to regress as the season progressed. Can Lamar adjust his staff or is Coach Morgan the problem? In football (as well as most occupations) you are either getting better or you are getting worse. We got worse this year on defense.

3. I think Des should stop calling plays and concentrate on coaching the entire team during the game. Can Leger call the plays? If not, then we need an Offensive Coordinator who can. I honestly do not know if Leger can or not because he has not been given the chance. Good leaders trust their people to make decisions and then holds them responsible for the results.

I hope Des can adjust and move forward, and maybe my observations are off track, but it is clear that the program needs to make some changes to move forward.

[JMV JustMyView]

I had high hopes for Des after they hired him, but I had serious doubts. One thing that I never bought into was the idea that Des could continue to do the same thing as Billy. To refresh our memory, that was given as one reason he was hired. No coach can (or should) try to be the same coach as the old coach. I think this was a false notion from the start. This put pressure on him from the start, especially given the mass defections after Billy left. Coaches with experience want to combine best practices from coaches they have worked for and create their own way. Unfortunately, Des had no other experience on the college level other than UL to draw from. Look at the various coaching systems that Billy was exposed to before coming to UL. I personally believe that Des was not set up to win. This was a disservice to both the program and to him. I have seen some people at work promoted before they were ready, and it was almost never good. In that situation, you hope they grow into the position. IMO, in this case, going from a tight ends coach to head coach is too big of a leap. He still may be able to turn things around next season, but he will have to make some hard decisions that seem out of character for him. Here are the things I believe he should consider:

1. Embrace the portal, at least to replace players we lose to the portal. Like Des, I hate the portal but this is the FBS world we live in today.

2. He needs to analyze the defense, which seemed to regress as the season progressed. Can Lamar adjust his staff or is Coach Morgan the problem? In football (as well as most occupations) you are either getting better or you are getting worse. We got worse this year on defense.

3. I think Des should stop calling plays and concentrate on coaching the entire team during the game. Can Leger call the plays? If not, then we need an Offensive Coordinator who can. I honestly do not know if Leger can or not because he has not been given the chance. Good leaders trust their people to make decisions and then holds them responsible for the results.

I hope Des can adjust and move forward, and maybe my observations are off track, but it is clear that the program needs to make some changes to move forward.

Great post.

[TammanyCajun]

I had high hopes for Des after they hired him, but I had serious doubts. One thing that I never bought into was the idea that Des could continue to do the same thing as Billy. To refresh our memory, that was given as one reason he was hired. No coach can (or should) try to be the same coach as the old coach. I think this was a false notion from the start. This put pressure on him from the start, especially given the mass defections after Billy left. Coaches with experience want to combine best practices from coaches they have worked for and create their own way. Unfortunately, Des had no other experience on the college level other than UL to draw from. Look at the various coaching systems that Billy was exposed to before coming to UL. I personally believe that Des was not set up to win. This was a disservice to both the program and to him. I have seen some people at work promoted before they were ready, and it was almost never good. In that situation, you hope they grow into the position. IMO, in this case, going from a tight ends coach to head coach is too big of a leap. He still may be able to turn things around next season, but he will have to make some hard decisions that seem out of character for him. Here are the things I believe he should consider:

1. Embrace the portal, at least to replace players we lose to the portal. Like Des, I hate the portal but this is the FBS world we live in today.

2. He needs to analyze the defense, which seemed to regress as the season progressed. Can Lamar adjust his staff or is Coach Morgan the problem? In football (as well as most occupations) you are either getting better or you are getting worse. We got worse this year on defense.

3. I think Des should stop calling plays and concentrate on coaching the entire team during the game. Can Leger call the plays? If not, then we need an Offensive Coordinator who can. I honestly do not know if Leger can or not because he has not been given the chance. Good leaders trust their people to make decisions and then holds them responsible for the results.

I hope Des can adjust and move forward, and maybe my observations are off track, but it is clear that the program needs to make some changes to move forward.

I had similar high hopes for Mike but did not expect him to be Billy. However, I also did not expect to win less than seven games per year either. He took over at a time when all programs were having to deal with defections so it was not unique to us. Whether it is his portal strategy, recruiting strategy, staff, game management, or all of the above; the reality is we are not experiencing anything close to the results we got under Billy or even Hud when he took over for Rickey. Mike was given a fully functioning locomotive. It required maintenance and care but it was not something he had to build from the ground up. If the standard by which we are all held to is “leave something better than you found it,” he has not done that and I think anyone objective would have to agree.

[facelessjonmoon]

What a better way to hire a new coach with a new stadium? If Des doesn’t get it done next year we have to make a move.

This is correct. Next season Des needs to coach like his job is on the line

Coach ____ed off. Play ____ed off etc. Things seem too comfortable and ho hum

[Duckster]

Better have 6:30 kickoff for sure. I recall the sun being below the west side of the upper deck at 6:00, but the upper deck will be down unless they have some sort of temporary shade.

Perhaps Cajun Field should observe Central Standard Time next September instead of waiting until November. A long beak Ragin Cajun cap might come in handy for those early kick times, too.

[HoustonCajun]

Outside of a scandal, I don’t think they fire him before then. The university is strapped for cash so they may not be able to buy him out right now anyway.

How many years is Dez's contract, 3, 4 or 5?

[CajunEXPRESS]

Perhaps Cajun Field should observe Central Standard Time next September instead of waiting until November. A long beak Ragin Cajun cap might come in handy for those early kick times, too.

That would be the smallest time zone in the world.

[BananaHammock]

How many years is Dez's contract, 3, 4 or 5?

5 year contract signed in 2021

[BananaHammock]

Keep in mind Napier had a $3M buyout in his contract that Florida is paying. Dez signed a 5 year contract worth $3.8M (plus incentives) so in theory the majority of his contract will be paid by Florida. One could argue that UL has no budget for a head football coaches salary after Year 1 and we could have done a national search with little (in the big scheme of things) out of pocket cost.

So we could have afforded a higher paid coach but likely Martin Hall shot that down and wanted to save money,

[BabbForHeisman]

Keep in mind Napier had a $3M buyout in his contract that Florida is paying. Dez signed a 5 year contract worth $3.8M (plus incentives) so in theory the majority of his contract will be paid by Florida. One could argue that UL has no budget for a head football coaches salary after Year 1 and we could have done a national search with little (in the big scheme of things) out of pocket cost.

So we could have afforded a higher paid coach but likely Martin Hall shot that down and wanted to save money,

But but but….nevermind

[jaxmc1023]

What would Martin Hall have done if Napier stayed? We had the donor money to pay him, but also finished millions in the red overall for athletics.. anybody wonder if we even really offered to keep him here? Martin Hall sees a 7 digit red number on the balance sheet, and has an SEC school ready to give you $3m for the best coach you've ever had........

[Scott Malkinson]

5 year contract signed in 2021

Only Maggrard would give crazy long contracts to coach no one else wants.