I agree with what you are saying. I happen to believe that we will certainly draw a larger crowd if the expectations and product on the field are higher. What concerns me though is that teams on our level such as Troy, FAU, even Ball State and Buffalo in the MAC have not seen any consistent increases in attendance no matter how good they have been. The cajuns, largely a middle of the road team in the SBC, has lead the SBC in attendance for several years with nowhere near the success that FAU and Troy have had.
i didnt blame bustle for attendance, actually i think thats been pretty decent, all i said is its time for him to go, not because of attendance but he has brought us to where he is going to bring us, and to compare bustles first years here is not a fair comparison, the program was in shambles, if and when he leaves the program will be in a much better position than when he got here. you are confusing 2 posters. i think its time for him to go but not b/c of attendance, i brought up the point that he had us leading the conference in attendance. people are tired of the same ol thing so attendance will begin to drop. and if you go out and make the right hire, attendance will increase. season ticket sales are up for basketball and marlin hasnt even held a full practice yet. i blame bustle for always losing a game he is not supposed to and he has a OC mentality. in 9 years you have never heard bustle say "this is unacceptable" as a head coach sometimes you have to be that guy. its always , well we played hard or i thought we moved the ball well at times, At this level effort should not even be a question, if you dont play hard you stand on the sideline. why are we even discussing effort, is osu the only game they played hard? Why should we not expect to be able beat teams like this? Troy doesnt have this attitude, Middle doesnt have this attitude so why is it ok for us to have it?
I guess this is a "new coach" thread... so I'll add my 2 cents. First, quit quibbling over things that a little terminology change would rectify. No, a "new" coach won't do jack squat. A "better" coach... for the times we are in... would be expected to both increase fan and area football spectator interest and attendance... AND elevate the probability of winning more matchups... for many reasons.
Bustle has done us a good job. He managed to erase the Baldwin years and that was no simple task. But, we are stuck in a rut. We are in midseason and I am also quite sure we all still hold out hope that we will win the SBC championship and/or make it to a bowl. However, considering the situation at UL... new RCAF... some new facilities existing or in the works... new president... soon to be new AD... we also need an upgrade at the football helm... the bus driver for all other sports... and the best or worst marketing component of a southern public university.
I am not like others that actually think Bustle isn't a solid head coach. I think he is. His greatest drawback is not knowing when he is outmatched. We are going to be outmatched 60% of our games. You do not keep going back to the well with a smaller bucket and expect to out haul a guy with a larger bucket. Bustle's only coaching failure in my mind is not realizing he isn't holding an equivalent or bigger bucket against the balance of opponents. There are ways to mitigate a talent mismatch. He still doesn't believe he has one.
Even bigger than that... Bustle is no longer fresh and he is tagged with a 6 win peak performance capability at UL. THAT alone is going to require we dismiss him. I would rather we stop all of the other attacks... be thankful for what he's done... and focus on what will truly be an improvement (not just a "change").
Now, if Bustle eclipses 6 wins this year... he is no longer stale and has achieved a new peak. If not... he has to go. Let's simply leave it at that. To me, it isn't debatable. He came here with big boy coaching pants on and he will leave with big boy coaching pants. Please don't get caught up in the emotion of competition and requirement of winners and losers.
Perfectly said. My thoughts exactly. Calling the guy an idiot, or suggesting that he's incompetent is idiotic on itself. He did a tremendous job getting us to where we are, and we should all recognize that. Having said that, in order to take the next step, we have to move on from Bustle. It's the simple nature of progression. We were not appealing to a coach worth the money we'll pay the next guy after Jerry Baldwin. Now we are, thanks to Bustle and the admin's somewhat commitment to football the last few years. I recognize what the guy has done, I'm appreciative, but inorder to CONTINUE progressing, the next step must and I'm confident will be taken.
igeaux.mobi
J1M, I agree with much of what you have stated my friend as I usually do. The only part I respectfully disagree with is "his greatest drawback being his ability to recognize we are outmatched". I think he knows, He just has limited ways of dealing with it.
I too think he has raised the bar, from laying on the ground to about shin level, and I thank him for being a solid, ethical coach for our program. This year, is looking a whole lot like the others. Inconsistent. We are sliding towards the end of the Bustle Book at UL. He is writing his last chapter. I'm confident that he and the team won't give up, they have shown in all his years to be fighters. We just have such a tough time matching up with just about anybody, and we shouldn't at this stage of the Bustle era. It would be great surprise, but beating Troy would sure be nice.
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