ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES BUSTLE AS FOOTBALL COACH…Dec. 13, 2001
LOUISIANA La. –. On what was an otherwise gloomy Thursday in the Acadiana area, it was nothing but sunshine around the Louisiana-Lafayette Athletics Department.
Louisiana-Lafayette 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.
LOUISIANA SI
12-13-2001 (ESPN)
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