Nick Smith

[Red Tide]

_ So, you say turn down a possible impact player when you could ask someone to grayshirt and who likely needs to development time? There is nothing wrong with it. Hud promised him nothing. He said he would honor the commit and he's not breaking that. He's simply asking him to delay full time enrollment until next spring for which his scholarship would count for that year.

Hud is not doing anything wrong so I think we need to stop with the "Win at all costs" mantra and quit overinflating what it is. There is a difference between bringing in the guys that YOU think will help this program win and win quickly versus bringing in kids who need time to develop. He has never been shy about this and Cajun T has noted repeatedly that this staff is looking to bring in kids who can contribute now. If you look at the comments of those who have pledged so far, nearly everyone of them mentions that fact that the staff has told them that they can come in and possibly play now if they work hard. Additionally, he has also asked Broadway to possibly redshirt even if he is granted his waiver. Where is your bleeding heart for him? He did not transfer to have to redshirt if eligible. _

For all intents and purposes, your remarks are true. You and I have a different meaning as to the "how" it goes down. If a recruit is committed and qualified, why not just redshirt him? He gets a year to develop AND you honor his committment by funding his scholarship. I'm just saying.

As far as coaches saying that a high school kid can come in and work hard and play right away, that is the standard issue response that all coaches tell kids at all universities when they want a recruit. I have seen enough recruiting to know that the only thing bigger or faster than a recruits measurables are their egos.

All I know about Broadway is he transferred to be closer to his family because of illness in the family, hence the request for a hardship waiver. I take him at his word which is his bond. I just hope that the NCAA sees it the same way. That's where "my" bleeding heart is for him. I'm just glad he is a Cajun.

[anhil8tor]

Just my opinion here....


When a new coach is hired... all bets are off. That new coach and new staff most definitely have a different ranking system and what was good for one might not be a proper fit for the other. I like the kid... and had he wanted to come to UL he had a scholarship coming. Say what you want but its a business and you have to run it as such. There are no "Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda" after its all said and done.

Good luck to you Nick.

[zephyr]

_ For all intents and purposes, your remarks are true. You and I have a different meaning as to the "how" it goes down. If a recruit is committed and qualified, why not just redshirt him? He gets a year to develop AND you honor his committment by funding his scholarship. I'm just saying.

As far as coaches saying that a high school kid can come in and work hard and play right away, that is the standard issue response that all coaches tell kids at all universities when they want a recruit. I have seen enough recruiting to know that the only thing bigger or faster than a recruits measurables are their egos.

All I know about Broadway is he transferred to be closer to his family because of illness in the family, hence the request for a hardship waiver. I take him at his word which is his bond. I just hope that the NCAA sees it the same way. That's where "my" bleeding heart is for him. I'm just glad he is a Cajun. _

You don't redshirt him because he counts against this year's signing limit of 25 scholarships and against the roster limit imposed by the NCAA. If it were that simple, Hud likely would do it. However, you are only allowed 25 signings by the NCAA. Some schools sign more but place them in Juco's or grayshirt them where they do not count for that year's class. If we grayshirted Smith, he'd enroll part time or delay full enrollment until next spring for which we'd have a scholarship available and he'd count against the 2012 class numbers. See Robert Walker for verification as this is what happened to him last year. He was signed in 2009 but counted against 2010's numbers.

[zephyr]

_ Just my opinion here....


When a new coach is hired... all bets are off. That new coach and new staff most definitely have a different ranking system and what was good for one might not be a proper fit for the other. I like the kid... and had he wanted to come to UL he had a scholarship coming. Say what you want but its a business and you have to run it as such. There are no "Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda" after its all said and done.

Good luck to you Nick. _

Make no bones about it. Tide has a point. I think what he's missing is that we have a lot of possible impact players that are available but we don't have a lot of room outside of those kids who are signed and don't qualify and will be grayshirted or sent to Juco. We also don't know if there will be attrition after the spring from some of the holdovers on the current team. If so, there will be scholarship spots left vacant for those kids like Seiner and Smith. I think what he's missing is that we have signing limits and roster limits that need to be met but can't be exceeded. I think that a coach will always take a player that can contribute now and help you win over a kid that needs time to develop. I don't think that means that he thinks Smith has no talent or fit here.

Where I would judge this staff is if they did get Smith and Seiner to grayshirt and come spring of next year, they told them that they had no spots available for them or they wanted them to walk on. THEN, I'd have an issue with the way things were handled and would feel for those guys as it would seem that they were misled in some way. When Hud was hired and visited Acadiana, he told Smith that he was honoring his commit. After that, none of us know or don't know if in that conversation, he may have suggested that he would be a grayshirt candidate and Smith stayed committed here.

[Just1More]

_ Make no bones about it. Tide has a point. I think what he's missing is that we have a lot of possible impact players that are available but we don't have a lot of room outside of those kids who are signed and don't qualify and will be grayshirted or sent to Juco. We also don't know if there will be attrition after the spring from some of the holdovers on the current team. If so, there will be scholarship spots left vacant for those kids like Seiner and Smith. I think what he's missing is that we have signing limits and roster limits that need to be met but can't be exceeded. I think that a coach will always take a player that can contribute now and help you win over a kid that needs time to develop. I don't think that means that he thinks Smith has no talent or fit here.

Where I would judge this staff is if they did get Smith and Seiner to grayshirt and come spring of next year, they told them that they had no spots available for them or they wanted them to walk on. THEN, I'd have an issue with the way things were handled and would feel for those guys as it would seem that they were misled in some way. When Hud was hired and visited Acadiana, he told Smith that he was honoring his commit. After that, none of us know or don't know if in that conversation, he may have suggested that he would be a grayshirt candidate and Smith stayed committed here. _

Extremely well said. Documentary over.

[moorecajun]

_ So, you're saying that we shouldn't bring the best possible players into this program? Hud did mention he wants to put a fence around this state. However, he did also say that this year's class would likely be filled with a lot of MS players due to past relationships while recruiting them. Things throughout this process have changed. I'm sure Hud didn't expect to see a Terrance Broadway come to transfer and players the caliber of Qyen Griffen and Alonzo Harris floating around. Again, you are not telling Nick that he is not wanted in this program, you are asking him to delay the scholarship until the next class where many more will be available. Also, Hud likely knows there may or may not be attrition after the spring if some of the current players don't buy into what he is doing or like his work demands. There will be scholarships available and Nick would be in line for one. In the same breath, Hud also visited a lot of state high schools shortly after being hired and made an impression. He offered Hollier and Eugene immediately while the previous staff had not visited once. I'd suspect that the question Hud is asking himself is do I go out and sign a dynamic playmaker who can make an immediate impact or a lineman who will need a redshirt year and likely a couple of years before he is ready to contribute? Let's give him the benefit of the doubt first. _

This is exactly the situation that has occurred here ... we need the gray shirt options to be committed to the program and everything will work out. The coaches are not discounting your ability to help this program; they just have to make ALL the numbers work out correctly!