Badeaux slated to take over UL track

[VObserver]

Good hire. He has been successful at ASU, and should succeed here. Hope he keeps coach O; she has done a good job.

[DaddyCajun]

My son is working out, with a Summer program specific for T&F to try out for the UL program this Summer. He like many schools did not have much when it came to TRACK coaches in High School. It is one thing to run sprint events but event such as Hurdles, long jump, triple jump, etc require some real coaching. Son high jumped, and triple jumped during freshmen and sophmore years then long jumped and ran the 100m/300m hurdles.

Ran a 4.5 forty in football. Was coached 2 times by an actual track coach 1.5 hrs each time in his Senior year made a world of difference as he qualified in the hurdles for district and regionals. At regionals he had the fastest qualifing time for his heat however trying to run the hurdles lower to decrease his time slammed down the second hurdle almost falling to the ground regained his balance finished the race but placed last.

A UL coach told him to train during the Summer and walk on/try out for the team.

He is pumped and is in process. Great to see we are getting an awesome coach.

[CajunDawgPound]

_ Good hire. He has been successful at ASU, and should succeed here. Hope he keeps coach O; she has done a good job. _

A GOOD HIRE? Nahhhhh! (Yawn). A good hire if you do not want to be recognized as a track power. People close tot he program wanted Boo Schexnayder. Why was he not offered?

SHE HAS DONE A GOOD JOB? What do you consider a good job to be and how was she good?

[anhil8tor]

Always like it when ours come home to coach.

[VObserver]

_ A GOOD HIRE? Nahhhhh! (Yawn). A good hire if you do not want to be recognized as a track power. People close tot he program wanted Boo Schexnayder. Why was he not offered?

SHE HAS DONE A GOOD JOB? What do you consider a good job to be and how was she good? _

He is a good hire because he has been a successful head coach at the D-1 level. He was a good hire because the program he coached OWNED the vault and the multi events in the SunBelt, both of which we can recruit very well for in our area. He was a good hire because we not only strengthened our program, we significantly weakened another good program in our conference by hiring him.

I AM one of the people close to the track program, and I AM a Boo Schex fan. The fact that we did not hire Boo does not make Lon a bad hire. What makes you think Boo was NOT offered? I know for a fact that he was on the short list.


She has done a good job in several ways. 1] The meets at UL were well organized and well run. 2.] The athletes in the events she coached performed well. 3.] The program in general improved greatly in the one year she was head coach. It still wasn't very good, but it was much improved, and she was not working with athletes she recruited.

[CajunDawgPound]

VO, you ARE kidding, RIGHT? Get out from behind your keyboard and go out there : for change : so you can validate what is really going on at the track.

If you did, you would know she was NOT the reason for ANY organizational successes at UL, nor was she part of any improvements. A certain guy from the PE department is the only one who can lay claim to "improvements". If that were NOT the case, the word "interim" would have been removed from the coaches’ title.

Badeaux needs to bring in his own people, with the "PE guy" being the ONLY holdover from the previous staff.

This will not be the earth-shattering hire that it could have been nor will it come close to matching the "new blood" excitement we have seen in football and basketball. Therefore, "the stay quiet and make no waves status quo" will continue for this UL sport (sic).

Yawn.

Waking Up.

When another school breaks this news before ours' does, this signals the dismal pecking order established by the athletic administration and signifies a continuation of the status quo. Therefore, Badeaux, welcome, but beware of what lies ahead.

This is a far better hire than the last three, with no baggage, but a long way from where UL could have been and a long way from awakening the sleeper status that UL has patented for itself.

[SlappyCajun]

_

When another school breaks this news before ours' does, this signals the dismal pecking order established by the athletic administration and signifies a continuation of the status quo. Therefore, Badeaux, welcome, but beware of what lies ahead.

I can't comment on anything else that you said, however, it is normally common courtesy to let the school where the guy is leaving make an announcement first. And many times that school will know first, before the the guy accepts the next job.

[Cajunrunner]

_ A GOOD HIRE? Nahhhhh! (Yawn). A good hire if you do not want to be recognized as a track power. People close tot he program wanted Boo Schexnayder. Why was he not offered?

SHE HAS DONE A GOOD JOB? What do you consider a good job to be and how was she good? _

There has been talk of Boo coming since Coach Lancon passed away. It's one thing to say "We should hire _______ to become a powerhouse!" It is a completely different thing to have the money to make such a hire.

[HoustonCajun]

_ I can't comment on anything else that you said, however, it is normally common courtesy to let the school where the guy is leaving make an announcement first. And many times that school will know first, before the the guy accepts the next job. _

I noticed that UL still has not even put up his hiring on its athletic website, ragincajuns.com.

[NewsCopy]

The University of Louisiana Athletics Department announced on Wednesday the hiring of alumnus Lon Badeaux as head coach of the Ragin' Cajuns men and women's track & field and cross country programs. He is the seventh head coach in the Division I era.

His hiring is pending approval by the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors.

A 1996 UL graduate and indoor All-American, Badeaux takes charge of the Cajuns program after spending the previous 12 seasons at Arkansas State, serving as head coach the last four seasons.

The New Iberia native helped make ASU a formidable force in the Sun Belt Conference. Badeaux coached 69 Sun Belt Conference champions, 53 regional qualifiers and 19 national qualifiers. Seven student-athletes reached All-American status under his watch, while another competed in the Olympics.

Most recently at the 2011 NCAA Championships, ASU pole vaulter Stephanie Foreman grabbed second team All-American honors by placing 10th in the nation.

Badeaux also saw 29 school records fall at ASU, including 15 during the 2010-11 season. The Red Wolves women finished second and the men third at the 2011 Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

"We found the right fit for our track & field and cross country program," said interim UL Athletic Director Scott Farmer. "He fits exactly what we were looking for with a proven record of success as a head coach.

"Lon knows the area as a native of New Iberia, the University as a former student-athlete and he has spent his entire career coaching and competing in the Sun Belt Conference."

Badeaux was part of ASU's 2006 Men's Indoor Sun Belt Conference Championship and was serving as interim head coach when student-athlete James Jenkins was named an All-American after an fourth-place finish in the triple jump at the NCAA Track and Field Championships.

Badeaux was named runner-up for the 2004 Mondo National Assistant Coach of the Year for jumps and multi-events by the USA Track and Field Coaches for Division I-A. He was also named to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Committee for scheduling.

In addition to ASU's athletic accomplishments, the Red Wolves track & field and cross country programs had 40 members record a 3.0 or higher GPA during the 2011 spring semester. The ASU women's cross country team notched a 3.70 GPA, marking the second highest GPA in the country and earning a National All-Academic team award.

A certified USA Track and Field Level II coach, Badeaux received his bachelor's degree in health and physical education from the University of Louisiana in 1996. He received his master's degree in exercise science from Arkansas State in 1999.

As a student-athlete at Louisiana, he set the indoor and outdoor records in the pole vault at 17-7 and 17-5, respectively, which stood for 14 years. In 1996, he was awarded All-America status with a third-place finish in the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Badeaux and his wife Amy have one son, Eli.

The rest of the story

UL-SI

[BirdofParadise]

_ I noticed that UL still has not even put up his hiring on its athletic website, ragincajuns.com. _

its there