Coach (2002...) Rickey Bustle

[Louisiana]

The choice was Rickey Bustle and it was a no brainer. Louisiana and any potential recruit can expect nothing but the best from Coach Bustle.

In the six seasons prior to Rickey Bustle becoming the offensive coordinator of Virginia Tech the school averaged just 4 wins per season. Virginia Tech had just a 2-8-1 record in Frank Beamer’s sixth season in Blacksburg, the year was 1992. In fact five of Beamers first six campaigns were losing ones, including three seasons with eight or more losses.

Something changed in 1993 Rickey Bustle became the offensive coordinator of Virginia Tech. They went 8-3

In 1994 Coach Bustle made a lateral move to South Carolina, a school that had averaged 4.8 wins in the previous 5 years. The year before South Carolina had gone 4-7-1. The single year that he was there as offensive coordinator of the South Carolina Gamecocks they went 7-5 and had a win in the Carquest Bowl win over West Virginia. .The year after he left they returned to their losing ways and went 4-6-1. In the 5 years following his stint they averaged just 3.2 wins. Rickey Bustle was a noticeable Blip on the USC radar.

Not all schools experience a drop off after Rickey Bustle leaves. He left ULM in great shape following a stint as offensive coordinator. After just a couple years of implementation of the Rickey Bustle offense, he left. Yet the following year (1987) “Northeast Louisiana” (now ULM) won the Division I-AA Football championship.

In 1995 he rejoined the Tech staff and immediately picked up where he left off two season’s prior as he guided the Hokies to two straight 10-2 seasons.

In every single one of Rickey Bustle's eight seasons as offensive coordinator at Virginia Tech the offense has ranked in the top 10 in school history. In those same eight seasons the school has averaged 9.38 wins per season.

This success has culminated into the fact that every single year since Rickey Bustle first became the offensive coordinator the Hokies have been to a post season bowl game. Including a shot at the national championship in 2001.

Bustle, who also has earned a reputation as an outstanding recruiter, who can be extremely successful with a variety of different style quarterbacks. Stan Humphries, Bubby Brister, Maurice DeShazo, Will Furrer, Jim Druckenmiller, Michael Vick, and in 2001 Grant Noel held up the successful Rickey Bustle tradition.

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In short Louisiana has made the hire of the year in College football. Look for the winning ways to continue. Jon Van Cleave is a very fortunate person.

[Turbine]

Lafayette's Bustle aims for big fun, Cajun style

Saturday, September 7, 2002

LAFAYETTE, LA.-Rickey Bustle, preparing Friday afternoon for Louisiana-Lafayette's home opener today against Minnesota, reached for the top left-hand drawer of his desk and pulled out a handful of inspiration.
"I re-read these two books all the time," Bustle said, pushing famed Summerville High School head coach John McKissick's "Called to Coach" and Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer's "Turn Up The Wick!" across the desk.
Between playing for McKissick at Summerville and helping Beamer build a national power at Virginia Tech, Bustle became hot property as a head coach candidate. He turned down Eastern Michigan and didn't feel as strongly about Toledo, Bowling Green or James Madison as he does about Louisiana-Lafayette. Bustle, 49, believes the Ragin' Cajuns can win championships in the Sun Belt Conference.
"Ever since I was an assistant at Louisiana-Monroe (from 1984-86) I thought this could be a good job, but there was no conference and no bowl tie-in," Bustle said. "Now that we're in a conference with a bowl tie-in (the New Orleans Bowl), it's an even better job."
He is bound to succeed, here in "The capital of French Louisiana" and probably beyond. Bustle is bright, personable and knows about turning things around.

INTRAMURAL LOVE
A former Clemson wide receiver, Bustle was a graduate assistant coach at Clemson in 1977-78 as Charley Pell rebuilt the program. In 1994, his only season as South Carolina's offensive coordinator, the Gamecocks earned the first bowl victory in school history. But it really isn't accurate to say Bustle has never been a head coach; while working on a Clemson master's degree, he led a women's intramural team to an appearance in the campus championship game. "We were the Frank Anderson Insurance Agency team," Bustle said. "We were the only team in the league that had jerseys."
And how many college head coaches can say they are married to one of their ex-players? It was true intramural love. The former Lynn Sanders of Folly Beach has a PhD from Virginia Tech and teaches in the Visual Arts Department at Louisiana-Lafayette.
Bustle never has to go far for football expertise. "My wife reminds me of the little things I didn't like about coaches I've worked with," Bustle said. "She reminds me to take care of the people I work with."

THE BUSTLE TOUR
Winning won't be easy. Jerry Baldwin was fired after the Ragin' Cajuns went 6-27 from 1999-2001. The Bustle era opened last week with a 31-7 loss at Texas A&M.
As Virginia Tech's offensive coordinator, Bustle had Heisman Trophy candidate Michael Vick. Now he must scrap for prospects LSU overlooks.
SO FAR, SO GOOD. SEASON TICKET SALES HAVE INCREASED WITH A CAMPAIGN TITLED "BUSTLE UP!" IN RADIO SPOTS, BUSTLE EMPHASIZES THE NEED FOR TWO TEAMS, "ONE ON THE FIELD AND ONE IN THE STANDS."
Unlike 40 percent of Lafayette residents, Bustle doesn't speak French. But he knows what "Laissez les bon temps rouler" means and is determined to let the good times roll on Saturdays. He made 30 "Bustle Tour" stops throughout Cajun Country this summer and regularly invites student groups to practices.
"Our approach has been that we're going to get this thing right," Bustle said, "and when we do, we're going to have ourselves a hell of a party."


Gene Sapakoff may be reached by phone at 937-5593, by e-mail at gsapakoff@postandcourier.com or by mail at 134 Columbus St., Charleston, S.C., 29403.



Gene Sapakoff is a Post and Courier reporter. He can be reached by phone at 937-5593 or you can send him an E-mail message by clicking here: gsapakoff@postandcourier.com

His columns appear Wednesdays and Fridays. His commentaries can be heard Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on Sports Radio 1390-AM.

[NewsCopy]

Rickey Bustle doesn't always believe in fate, but this seemed to be more than coincidence.

When Virginia Tech's longtime quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator interviewed for the head coaching job at Louisiana Lafayette last December, he learned that the school fight song ended this way:

You will hear the rage of the Cajuns,

So let's give a yell.

Hustle up and bustle up

And fight on to victory. Go UL!

"The people here kind of said it was an omen," Bustle said. "I sure hope so."

Bustle, who turns 49 next month, came to the heart of Cajun Country for his first college head coaching job. He hopes to bring stability and success to a low-level Division I program in the Sun Belt Conference's fledgling football league.

"We know where we are," Bustle said. "We have to work harder to sell some tickets and generate a spark than we did at Tech. I didn't come here thinking we were going from Virginia Tech to a situation just like it. All the things aren't in place yet. But when we went to Virginia Tech in '87, things weren't in place there, either."

Louisiana Lafayette used to be known as Southwestern Louisiana. The school's most notable athletic alumni are Brian Mitchell, NFL kick returner and utility back extraordinaire, ex-New York Yankee pitcher Ron Guidry, former Philadelphia 76ers guard Andrew Toney and for real hoops junkies, a high-scoring gunner from the '70s named Bo Lamar. Thirty-three former Ragin' Cajun football players have suited up in the NFL.

Enrollment is approximately 15,000. The football stadium, 31,000-seat Cajun Field, is known as "The Swamp" because it's situated two feet below sea level. The city of Lafayette (pop. 110,000) is located 40 miles west of Baton Rouge and just 30 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico.

"You can walk outside and get wet if you're not careful," Bustle said.

Bustle wasn't entirely unfamiliar with the state or the region. He spent three years at Northeast Louisiana in the mid-80s - his primary recruiting area was New Orleans - before joining Frank Beamer at Tech in 1987.

Louisiana Lafayette also called him the last time its head coaching position was open, three years ago.

"There was no conference affiliation and no bowl tie-in at the time, so I really wasn't interested," he said. "Now they're in a conference and there's a bowl tie-in."

The Sun Belt Conference has existed in various incarnations for years. ULL, an independent football program from 1996-2000, became a competing member last year in the league's first football season. The league champion goes to the New Orleans Bowl.

Though the Ragin' Cajuns have endured six consecutive losing seasons, Bustle didn't inherit an empty house. Sixteen starters return, 10 on offense, including the quarterback, one of the Sun Belt's better tailbacks and probably the league's best receiver tandem.

"We have some guys who could play just about anywhere," Bustle said. "The difference between here and Virginia Tech is numbers. We don't have the same number of talented players that we did at Tech and one of the things we're working on is getting our numbers up. But I guarantee you there are some guys here we'd have loved to have at Tech."

As quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Virginia Tech, Bustle oversaw the top seven scoring offenses in school history and five of the top seven total offenses. He coached three of Tech's top four career passing leaders: Will Furrer, Maurice DeShazo and Jim Druckenmiller, in addition to NFL No. 1 draft pick and human lightning bolt Michael Vick.

Thus far at ULL, Bustle's energy has been split between on-the-field and off-the-field duties. He figured he has spoken 65-70 times to alumni, boosters and anyone else who would listen. He and the staff spent a week away from recruiting last winter, piled into three motor homes and took what he called "The Bustle Tour" of southern Louisiana, stopping five or six times a day to speak to folks or do local TV and radio spots.

"The response has been tremendous," he said. "The football program here was pretty good for a while, but it kind of got caught on the downside lately. One thing I've learned is that people here are really hungry for a winner."

"Hungry" is an appropriate choice of words in southern Louisiana, where the cuisine can grab you in a hurry. Bustle, who isn't exactly built like a marathoner to begin with, figures he's put on 15 pounds since he's been there.

"I'm hoping that two-a-days save me," he cracked. "I told some people that I was standing in line the other day at the grocery store and my beeper goes off and a little boy standing behind me says, 'Watch out, mama, he's backin' up.' "

He doesn't back up often. Nearly all of his days are spent hustlin' and bustlin'.

Dave Fairbank can be reached at 247-4637 or by e-mail at dfairbank@dailypress.com

Original Daily Press link dead

[NewsCopy]

December 13, 2001
LAFAYETTE – Louisiana Director of Athletics Nelson Schexnayder announced the hiring of Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Rickey Bustle as the school's 19th person to guide the Ragin' Cajun football team.

Bustle's hiring is pending approval from the University of Louisiana Board of Trustees. He is replacing former head coach Jerry Baldwin, who spent three years as the program's top man.

The 48-year old Summerville, S.C., native brings one of the top offensive minds in college football. For the past seven seasons (eight overall), he has served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Virginia Tech.

While in Blacksburg, Bustle developed some of the finest quarterbacks the college football world has seen in recent years. Included in the list are NFL players Jim Druckenmiller and Michael Vick. Vick was the first pick in the 2001 NFL Draft.

The offense, meanwhile, put up some of the most exciting numbers around. The 1999 Hokies averaged a national-best 41.4 points per game, as Virginia Tech advanced to the national championship game.

In Bustle's first seven seasons as offensive coordinator, the Hokies fielded seven of the eight highest-scoring teams in school history. Most importantly, the team posted a 67-17 record and won three BIG EAST Conference Championships. The Hokies have been to a bowl game every year he has served as the offensive coordinator.

It is that winning tradition that got Schexnayder's attention very quickly.

"We are extremely happy to have someone of Rickey's enthusiasm and experience here," Schexnayder said. "He's worked with some great football teams. I am deeply appreciative of the efforts of Dr. (Ray) Authement, which allowed us to hire a coach of Rickey's background, qualifications and experience. The future of UL football is certainly a bright one."

Bustle will continue his offensive coordinator duties at Virginia Tech through the Hokies' Jan. 1 Gator Bowl matchup with Florida State.

Meanwhile, Bustle will get to focus his attention on building a Louisiana-Lafayette football program that just completed its first season in the Sun Belt Conference. While the school has only tallied nine wins in the last five years, Bustle knows that the new affiliation with the conference -- as well as the school's commitment to a strong football program -- will turn that stat around.

"This is just a great opportunity for a first-year head football coach," said the amiable Bustle. "I promised my wife that I wouldn't just take any job just to be a head coach. This football program has a lot of promise, especially being in the Sun Belt Conference and having a bowl tie-in."

Bustle has spent all but one season at Virginia Tech since 1987. In 1994, he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at South Carolina. From '87-92, though, he was the quarterbacks and receivers coach at Virginia Tech before moving to the offensive coordinator-quarterback coaching slot in '93.

His ties to Louisiana include a three-year stint at Northeast Louisiana (now UL Monroe) from 1984-86, where he started as the running backs coach for two seasons before becoming the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He has also had coaching stints at East Carolina (1980-82) and the old USFL's Arizona Wranglers in 1983. He broke into the full-time coaching ranks as the defensive coordinator at Garnder-Webb in 1979.

Bustle is a 1976 graduate of Clemson University, where he received a degree in parks and recreation administration. He was a three-year letter winner as a wide receiver for the Tigers from 1974-76.

Bustle is married to the former Lynn Sanders of Charleston, S.C., who received her PhD., in curriculum and instruction from Virginia Tech in December 1997. They have a son, Brad.

The rest of the Story

[Turbine]

In 1983 Rickey Bustle was coaching in the professional ranks with the Arizona Wranglers.

His capacity was as running backs coach.

That season his backs accumulated 2138 yards on the ground. Not to shabby