Why don't we invest in coaching?

[CajunRebel]

You know, its pretty pathetic that we can't come up with the money to keep a very good coach here in Lafayette. I mean we can't even come close to cometeing with ANYONE when it comes to USF. We are about to lose a good coach to a crappy team because we aren't willing to invest in our atheltic programs. And now we are about to lose a very successful coach and we will have to rebuild all over again.

You know, if we would actually spend the extra 100,000/yr to get a very good coach, we would easily make that money back. But we don't. We settle for meiocrity. Sometimes I think that this University could care less about moving up in athletics.

It's the new dance.
I call it the Ragin Cajun 2-step.
One step forward, two steps back.

IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING GOOD, DON'T LET IT GO!

[1stTake]

It was a year or two ago so I forget which goofball on Delphi released a study from Martin Hall that said spending on coaches does not lead to winning. I want a new study that includes LSU and Nick Saben.

[Cajun Express]

Originally posted by CajunRebel
You know, its pretty pathetic that we can't come up with the money to keep a very good coach here in Lafayette. I mean we can't even come close to cometeing with ANYONE when it comes to USF. . And now we are about to lose a very successful coach and we will have to rebuild all over again.

You know, if we would actually spend the extra 100,000/yr to get a very good coach, we would easily make that money back.

Rebel first let me say that Jessie could do a lot to better his cause by winning more, and doing more to get fans into the game. If he had averaged 2k more seats per contest this season he would would had 22k extra tickets sold at say ten bucks a ticket, or 220k dollars for the season.

Next question. Where are these extra dollars to come from? The state has a cap on athletic dollars that can be raised by student fees, and a cap on how much the university can spend from its' general fund.

The fault lies with the coaches, and the fans along with the school. So when you lash out remember to save some for Jessie, and US.

Know one thing USF is not a "crappy team, or school". I suggest you check out their website. You might want to send your children to that school. They also have a proud history and actually have won a NCAA championship in basketball. They are a private school with rich backers that can spend as much as they want to on a coach. Their media market is about 6 million, ours about 600k. In a nutshell though they are small they have a lot more community and other assets than you give them credit for.

[ULTubaTom]

From what I understand the dispute is not about money but about the lenght of the contract.

[Turbine]

Originally posted by ULTubaTom
From what I understand the dispute is not about money but about the lenght of the contract.

I could never understand the slap in the face reward for going to the 2000 NCAA dance was a year shorter 3 year contract.

To hire someone with a 4-year contract then renew with a 3 is very much like bait and switch. Jessie deserves a 5 year contract.

Having said this I think the University should get a Dennis Felton like clause inserted.

[CajunRebel]

"Rebel first let me say that Jessie could do a lot to better his cause by winning more, and doing more to get fans into the game."

Sorry, but how much more do you want the guy to win? Lets look at the past 3 yrs:
Year Home Total
03-04 10-1 20-9
02-03 10-1 20-10
01-02 12-1 20-11
Keep in mind that last year we held 2nd place for the nations longest home winning streak.

Sure he could win more, but it is hard to expect much more out of him. Winning is not the issue. When your team is 32-3 you know you'll be going to watch a winner. In my opinion there are two reasons why attendance is so low:
1. The university does next to nothing to promote the games.
2. Our home schedule is pathetic. No one will show up in great numbers to watch us play against our weak OOC schedule or any Sun Belt team for that matter.



"If he had averaged 2k more seats per contest this season he would would had 22k extra tickets sold at say ten bucks a ticket, or 220k dollars for the season."

You know, that is exactly my point. If we lose Jessie, we should invest the extra 100,000 per year in a very good coach, our attendance would certainly increase by 2,000 per game, and noe you have an extra 120,000. Good coaching pays for itself. If we lose Jessie we have to start all over again.



"Next question. Where are these extra dollars to come from? The state has a cap on athletic dollars that can be raised by student fees, and a cap on how much the university can spend from its' general fund."

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think we spend out limit on atheltics. But if we do, hell take out a loan. Again, they will make the money back.



"The fault lies with the coaches, and the fans along with the school. So when you lash out remember to save some for Jessie, and US."

No, Jessie isn't perfect. I think the problems at the beginning of the season really hurt the team and fan support because for awhile there was nothing to be excited about. Also, our fan base could be bigger, but it sure could be a whole lot worse. But to be honest with you I have never really seen the university make a strong investment in atheltics. There is no real commitment to advancement. Sure, things are changing with a new athletic department and indoor practice facility, but those are things that should have been done 10 years ago.



"Know one thing USF is not a "crappy team, or school". I suggest you check out their website. You might want to send your children to that school."

Yes, I know that USF is not a "crappy team or school." When I said "crappy" I was blowing off a little steam. But what I meant by that was that our basketball program is much better off than they are right now. And I wanted to make the point that we have a coach that is willing to take a step down because we won't pay him what he deserves over here.

And no, I will NEVER send my kids to USF, or ANY school anywhere near San Fransisco.

[Cajun Express]

Did you know Bustle was painting the stadium with the volunteers, did you know Bustle was pulling up carpets in the athletic complex with the volunteers? Why is this important? Because Ricky in doing these things has won the hearts of the fans.

Did you know we were last in the conference on unsportsman like penalties and duing his first two years we are the best. Did you not see C. Williams do get technical fouls over and over for two seasons.

Did you not notice how the fan base is left wondering who will be playing, who will be coaching every year with Jessie. Jessie has never done anything beyond coach and recruit, and that is fine except it does nothing to win people over. He has not instilled disipline on the team. He has not recruited the fan base after his initial year.

Did you know that the basket ball coach does his own scheduel? Did you see Jessie set up a home and home with anyone you want to see if it ment he had to eat a little pride by going there first? Did you see us beat MSU only to fall to McNesse and BSU right after that.


Winning? Yes Jessie has done ok, but not outstanding, and outstanding is what you will need to average 8k a game. He needs to pull off upsets and win on the road where he is not supposed to win. He was suppose to win at the Cajun Dome against the people he played.

We as a university spend 100% of the money that we are allowed to spend on atheltics. We cannot borrow unboned money.

I am not saying Jessie sucks, I am saying there is a lot of room for improvement on his part. There is a lot of room for improvement on our part. The university will not go out on the limb for a coach that has made it clear he will leave asap.

Pleae be the first to donate a huge sum of money to supplement the money that the university can spend.

[Oldman]

go to lsu/saban and meet them, who cares.
were you at martin hall to hear this? if you are going to quote! get your facts straight.

[Oldman]

i cannot understand what is means when someone says, "they will not invest to keep a good coach." well, if this is about basketball than you need to say so, because the last time i looked, "WE HAVE GOOD COACHES." if the basketball coach decide he wants to pursue another job, hey, he should go for it, he's got a contract on the table,not good enough? want a better contract? simple enough, do better, AND you know what i am talking about. win a game in the post season maybe (especially with the talent), gees, what a novel idea, wish i'd though of that........ops! i did didn't i, work harder and try to get a better more competative schedule. oh well! i'm done," skip rope, break a leg, toodaloo, and don't let the bed bugs bite."

[DrySwamp]

What is Jessie's salary?

[CajunRebel]

oldman, I know you don't favor Jessie, but I feel that the university should become more competitive when hiring coaches. If you find someone that brings you success, you should fight to keep him at your school. Thats my gripe.

As for your gripe about not winning any postseason games, that's realy alot to ask out of a team from the Sun Belt. Keep in mind that only the top 32 teams win postseason games. Yes, it would be nice to be a top 32 team, but it is almost impossible in the conference we are in. And it would take time to build that kind of a team. But it's tough to build on past success when you have to constantly rebuild because you can't keep your coaches here.

As for the schedule, I don't know exactly why we can't get good teams in the Cajundome, but I do know these things:
1. We are a mid-major, and no major schools will dare play us at home because it's too risky. This is a problem that all mid-majors have.
2. Even if one would agree to it, we can't afford to bring these schools in because they cost too much money.

[RaginFan2]

"As for the schedule, I don't know exactly why we can't get good teams in the Cajundome, but I do know these things:
1. We are a mid-major, and no major schools will dare play us at home because it's too risky. This is a problem that all mid-majors have.
2. Even if one would agree to it, we can't afford to bring these schools in because they cost too much money."

CR, I don't know if you recall, but we have hosted teams from the "majors" such as the SEC (Miss. St.), Big 10 (Ohio St.), Big 12 (Texas Tech), PAC 10 (Washington St.), A-10 (UMass) in the not-so-distant past (1990s-2000s). I realize that the past few years have been pretty lean as far as as quality, "name" OOC home opponents. And I agree that we need to get more of them back on the schedule. I just get the feeling that the admin. is not too comfortable with Jesse and is not going all out with funding due to 1) football concerns and 2) not enough support (ie, attendance) for the basketball program.

Personally, I am in a bit of a quandry. I thought (and still think) that Jesse handles himself very well and generally represents the university very well. But I sense some things are not quite right. I just can't put my finger on it. Some aspects of the BB program just don't seem to be going well. Is it lack of discipline, as many have said? Or recruiting many (certainly not all) academically-poor students; maybe lack of quality on-court coaching? I don't know. Jesse has been pretty successful overall. It is hard to fault him there. Oh, sure, I like to win all of the games, but I was impressed with the way he handled the team this year, when things could have really gone sour quickly at the beginning.

Jesse really hasn't done anything that I am aware of to warrant being fired. I think that kind of talk is ridiculous. Yet there is kind of a haze hanging over the program. I think in part it may be, as some have indicated, that he hasn't really gotten hands-on in the community to promote his program enough. Certainly, the academic situation with a few of the players seems to pop up every year, and that is a problem. Also the fact that each of the past few years, after the season he seems to be trolling for a new job. Plus, he doesn't seem to recruit particularly well in-state (young Mr. Gray notwithstanding).

I just don't quite know what to make of all this, but it does leave me a bit uneasy about the state of the program. It seems we are the verge of breaking out into becoming a top program any season now ... or of cratering into a mess. I would like to either see us lock Jesse up with a good contract and make him happy to be here for a long time (with a few caveats), or let him move on and hire the best coach available for our program. One way or the other, this needs to be resolved. Soon!

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