I feel a rant coming on. This poster as well as the one he refers to are dead on. People need to realize what a Spring time game is supposed to be about. It might only be glorified practice to you & me, but to the football team it's a hell of a lot more than that. For Seniors it's their first chance to take the baton & right the wrongs of the past. This season is their chance to avenge the WKU, FIU, McNeese losses of the past. For many Juniors & Sophomores it's their chance to step up & show that the hard work they have done for this new staff is paying off. For any attending freshmen, it's their chance to see if they can play with the big boys. For the transfers, it's their chance to show they can make a difference from seasons past for this team.
We, the fans may or may not understand the importance of the Spring game, but you can bet the players do as well as the coaches. For the coaches it's their first chance to get to see these guys put it all out there. To see who really wants it, who really loves the game of football & who they can count on to step up this season when needed. Sure Coach Hud wants to make a big deal out of a game that doesn't "count". That's because he wants to know who he can count on when it does count.
I have posted before on this thread about atending LSU's first spring game after Saban took over as coach. It was extremely important to him that the fans showed up in support of the team for the spring game. They had been down for several years & support for the program had waned severely. He wanted to start a new tradition. A tradition of winning that had abandoned the football program. It's all about tradition. It's all about pride. You can't build tradition without building pride. You can't build pride if you don't take resposnibility. You can't have responsibility if you don't have ownership. You can't have ownership if you you don't take ownership. Part of that ownership is saying I WILL BE THERE.
I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever, that Hud & his staff are yelling, pushing, prodding, & challenging every player every morning or evening at their work outs, reminding them of their commitment to this school, to their teammates, their coaches, the community, & to themselves, that they have an obligation to give their all to change this program into a tradition that will rule the Sun Belt Conference for the rest of the time they attend UL. This thread is a part of that. This sight is a part of that. I appreciate the OP for bringing the topic up & the many good ideas that were thrown out there & I fervently hope & for the first time believe that someone in the atheletic administration has a pen & paper & is scanning this thread to gain new insights to make this game an absolutely epic event. Because if this team is going to ever build the kind of tradition that it takes to be a consistent winner & undisputed SBC champion, it WILL start with the Spring game.