Opinion: What a joke UL athletics has turned into!

[RAGINCAJUN11]

It's my understanding that less than a year ago UL had a golden opportunity for all 3 major men's sports. Basically turned the individual away in a meeting. The guy had an open checkbook. Wanted a presence here. Again, how dare we be successful.

What is everyone's first and last name that was involved in this meeting?

[ZoomZoom]

*its crazy that i have to put this disclaimer out there -because anything remotely not agreeing with the pitch forks automatically is seen as supporting the admin - we need to schedule better. with that said, marlin would be crucified if he scheduled the way the pokes did in non conference this year.

The SBC "upgraded" with the much ballyhooed MAC/SBC Challenge. Basically two games to remind both leagues where their place is. It is better than some NAIA Mountain Hollow Backroad U, but not a needle mover.

The part about putting a disclaimer is so true. Scheduling, go dig up an old media guide. Cupcakes are a regular staple on all schedules. Even when a G5 plays a P5, guess what...the G5 is usually the cupcake.

McNeese beating Michigan this year is akin to USL beating aTm in football. A team can be so bad, you can't help but beat them. Aggies gifted the ball seven times. Michigan has been in complete chaos this year with an administration that was too busy going after the CFP championship to care as Howard's performance has been sliding over the last three seasons.

[BabbForHeisman]

It's my understanding that less than a year ago UL had a golden opportunity for all 3 major men's sports. Basically turned the individual away in a meeting. The guy had an open checkbook. Wanted a presence here. Again, how dare we be successful.

Can't post that without more details!

[Cajunsmike]

Marlins non conference schedule DOES suck. You think his non conf scheduling is good???

Our road non conference schedule was strong this past year. 2 opponents won their conference in both the regular season and tournament. Two others finished second in their league. The three D1 teams we played at home this past year all did well in their conference seasons. Granted those schools are not familiar to people here but it is inaccurate to say our D1 non conference schedule was not challenging. I agree with all that 2 non D1 games is too many. Fortunately it was not 3 like many other teams in our league and the SLC play. There are more good D1 teams from the area coming to the Dome next season. Hopefully we go down to only 1 non D1 game.

[ZoomZoom]

Here's a killer OOC run from years back, all in a row. Birmingham-Southern, Louisiana College, Alcorn State, Bethume-Cookman.

Or these teams one year, Xavier (NO), Bellhaven, Louisiana College, Southern, Alcorn State, with Nicholls, Samford and McNesse State blended in.

Plenty more, just go look. It's nothing new the last 30 years. Even BP had New York Tech on the schedule.

[jaxmc1023]

if someone donates $500k to our basketball program NIL fund we too could win our conference like Wade.

Will Wade made $200k this year.. how much did Marlin make?

It's my understanding that less than a year ago UL had a golden opportunity for all 3 major men's sports. Basically turned the individual away in a meeting. The guy had an open checkbook. Wanted a presence here. Again, how dare we be successful.

Cut it out with this crap.. this program is circling the toilet. It's not time for cloak and dagger, or trying to protect sources.

[CajunRebel]

Hmm lets see

They beat us, Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech, UAB, VCU and Michigan.....not saying they had the hardest schedule in the world but they took care of business

You act like the Sunbelt has been juggernaut in basketball the past 10 years...it has not been anywhere close to that.

We’re not great, La Tech is not great, and Michigan (believe it or not) is genuinely terrible.

The Sun Belt is not a juggernaut, but the Southland is next-level bad. Aside from McNeese, there is only one other school that cracks the top 200 in RPI.

[Cajunrunner]

Please continue….

They won’t, and considering what we’re seeing, I’d rather someone not post crap like that on here unless they’ve also got some legit details to accompany it.

[Cajunrunner]

McNeese has a quality softball program. Their RPI as of pregame yesterday was 33. No surprise that we beat them, but also no surprise that we had to work for it.

This.

In 2022, McNeese was playing in the Regional Champ game vs host Northwestern.

Last season, they would have been playing in a Super Regional against us were it not for a last inning 7 run inning by Washington.

They’ve got some really good momentum at that program right now, and unless something changes there to cause them to tumble, I expect them to be a tough opponent every time we play.

[UL_Cajuns]

First year coach at mcneese just punched their ticket to the big dance. It's amazing what a coach can do in his first year. Compare that to the coach UL has retained for the men's basketball program has been to the dance twice in 15 years.

Every sport at UL has turned into a major disappointment along with the athletic director. Changing the landscape at UL has been needed for a long time. This new landscape doesn't mean much since the fans don't attend the games. Just look at the attendance numbers across all major sports, UL should be embarrassed.

Of course no one will do anything about the constant failures at UL. The coaches for baseball, softball, basketball and football have been at UL long enough and yet all of these sports have deteriorated to the point that people have lost all interest.

It's time to clean house and find coaches that can win and build winners. At the present time this university is in dire straights and no one cares enough to talk about it or do anything at all to address the elephant in the room. I'm so tired of having average teams and these coaches are receiving annual raises and contract extensions.

Unfortunately this university will never amount to much of anything because of the poor leadership and lack of accountability!

We will be just fine in baseball and softball. We have the right players and coaches in place for the time being.
Basketball - you are correct - need a new coach ASAP.

Football - time will tell this year. If he doesn't get to at least 8 wins, he should be let go.

Welcome to the board.

[babysitter]

They won’t, and considering what we’re seeing, I’d rather someone not post crap like that on here unless they’ve also got some legit details to accompany it.

Damn. Didn't mean to hurt your feelings. A lot of you people on this board seem to know quite a bit about what goes on in the athletic department. Do a little digging. ask a few questions.

[GMG]

Whomever thinks I'm a mcneese or lsu fan can't be further from the truth. I've donated thousands of dollars to UL athletics since the 1980s. I graduated from UL as well.

The football coach is in his 3rd year not his second and he has done nothing in 2 plus years. The football program is crap and most of you know it. This will not change the attendance and neither will a new seating arrangement in a remodeled stadium. But keep thinking your AD made s good hire!

The basketball coaches for men and women are average. You can't build a program on average. That is why once every 9 years the team might make the ncaa tourney. This track record is definitely something to look forward to. Nothing will change with attendance, the mickey mouse home games just pad wins that mean nothing. Marlin is not the right fit, period.

Baseball coach now in his 5th year is also average. The two predessors wasted zero time in creating a nationally ranked program. Not this coach.

Softball coach unfortunately has turned a perennial nationally ranked power house program into what it is today.
Very concerning and sad.

I'm sick and tired of throwing money away to support an athletic department that can't get out of their own way. Think about this for a moment. Maggard came to UL from Missouri and when there was an opening at Missouri, Maggard wasn't interviewed. Why is that if he is so good at being the AD??

I'm disgusted at how average every major sport is at UL. Absolutely nothing will change unless people demand it. How many of you reading my posts can say they are secure in their jobs like the coaches that work for UL?

Can you be average at your job and still keep your job long term? Well at UL this is paradise for the average coach.

By the way I've only posted a couple of other times over the last few years, so I'm not new to this page. I just felt like saying something for a change called reality. I really don't care if anyone agrees with me or not. The bottom line is how long will you and our university allow poor coaching and attendance in every sport continue?? Let's not wait until we have completely gone back to Dr Authement's days and every sport has to start over with an empty cupboard!

Use your voice coming from your mind, not your heart. We all want our university to succeed and as one responder mentioned that the academic side of UL is thriving and maybe that's good enough for some of you, not me!

I get no joy out of writing this post. I get even less joy by attending UL athletic events. Maybe one day all of this will be better. But I don't think that will happen any tiime soon due to the current AD.