The Book: 2007 Football

[anhil8tor]

What fund raisers could football do to help out?


Will we ever be able to fix up the stadium?



Can the athletic department even get volunteers to help clean up the football stadium?

[Turbine]

Year number six! Where the hell are all of our upper classmen? Did we cut players? We should not have to rebuild every year. Bustle is a poor judge of talent!

If there is a single Junior or Senior playing this year, it tells me that Bustle and staff were good judges of talent when they signed.

Bustle was somehow (don't ask me how) able to sign this years seniors after 7 straight losing seasons. Then his staff was somehow able to sign this year’s junior class after 8 straight losing seasons.

On the flip side of the coin, this years sophomore class, and red shirt freshmen were signed after a co-champ season. Do we realize how much bigger the available pool of quality athletes is after a championship season?

The fact that a single Junior or Senior is hitting the field tells me that Bustle did an outstanding recruiting job back in the spring of 2004 and 2005.

Still it is unrealistic to think the signing class of 04 should be dominating numbers wise this year.

Now I didn't bring this up to degrade the juniors and seniors, because I think we have some great talent ON THE FIELD from those classes.

I just don't know how Bustle got them to sign, and the thing about it is, no matter what happens the rest of this year, the recruiting trails of 2008 will still be easier than they were in 2004.

jmo

[anhil8tor]

Ul 34
Unt 21

[anhil8tor]

As a fan I like seeing younger guys playing because I know they won't be going pro after their junior year. A senior that started as a sophmore will be very valuable to a program.

[SlappyCajun]

Well, using that logic. I guess we can look forward to a bad recruiting class next year after this losing season.

[Turbine]

_ Well, using that logic. I guess we can look forward to a bad recruiting class next year after this losing season. _

Perhaps but it expalins why you have ebb and flow win totals while you are building the program.

At least now Bustle has some tangibles to work, and 8 straight losing seasons isn't on the list.

[Damon]

I believe the low number of Jr. and Sr. players can also be seen from a scholarship point. I remember an off-season interview where Bustle said we were at near-capacity for scholarships. He said it was a new kind of problem to deal with.

I read the depth chart issues that we now have more depth at more positions than we used to. In previous years, most positions were very shallow. Case in point: wide receivers.

Is it an excuse for 0-5? Hell no. Is it a reality for the staff? Yes. It may also be the "best" problem they'll have this year.

[Damon]

Yay!!

[HoustonCajun]

_ The Bustle plan is not working he is not grabbing the best possible players and never mind this is my last post. _

I read the article in today's Advertiser about how many freshmen and sophmores we are playing and how many redshirts we have, which is what Bustle has been trying to do since he got here. We are extremely young and are making a lot of mistakes. We still need to improve recruiting, but it seems like Bustle is building this brick by brick. We pay now for the dividends we will get later. We also have new Coordinators who are not only bringing changes, but should improve recruiting.

The best thing this town can do for this football team is to show up en masse for Saturday's game. Wouldn't it be great to see 25,000+ as a show of support for these kids. And, we win the game. That would propel us through the meat of our conference schedule. We have some tough games coming up after UNT, so this is a must win.

We are letting our basketball coach build from the ground up and quit using the quick fix of JC transfers. While we have had uncharacteristic losing seasons, we will soon see all of this pay off for years to come. Why is football any different? I want to win as much as anyone and I am tired of excuses, especially when we see teams like Troy seemingly pass us by. And, I am extremely disappointed that we are 0-5 at this point and particularly that we lost to McNeese State. But, it is what it is. If Bustle is truly building our program the right way, things will improve. It is hard to be patient as we keep hearing the same thing year after year. For once, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and it is not an on-coming train. Sometimes you have to be patient with a coach who is building a program. Although this is Bustle's 6th year, we are not yet an experienced team. We are young and building a solid base. Bustle still has 2 years left on his contract. I think next year will be the telling year for him, not this year.

Sometimes, if you stick with something and give them what they need and a show of confidence, things have a way of coming together. We have a new Asst. AD with a true vision for athletics, a new President coming on board next year who will hopefully provide the support for athletics we have been hoping for, improving facililties, and things are finally starting to come together at UL in all areas. All of this will have a profound impact on football which drives everything. I, for one, will be patient with Bustle because neither he nor his predecessors have had what is about to happen to UL in the coming year. Let's give him a chance to be successful when all of this actually comes together.

[anhil8tor]

I will be in attendance saturday with my 3 year old son.

[shof]

Someone on the NT board asked about "where" to party, post-game. He asked about "The Strip". Seeing as how I haven't lived there in............a long time , where is a good post game environment?
Shof

[HelmutVII]

It depends on their age. If they are relatively young they should head for downtown. A bit of caution should be used there if they intend to stay after 12:00 midnight or 1:00 A.M. though.