Napier Shooting straight

[Cajunfanatico]

Hud's was a big fancy house built on sand. Napier is laying the proper foundation. When his house goes up, it will last.

My thoughts exactly. Hud accomplished a lot, showed us that there are 30,000 or more Cajun fans who will attend games when the product warrants it. But at the end of the day, they were short-term fans.

Not trying to diminish what Hud accomplished one bit, in fact, I always said that regardless of the circumstances under which he left the program, he'd leave it in better shape than he found it.

But Charliek is spot-on imho. I too believe that Napier is building something that will long, long outlast him.

[tdncz]

Bottom line: whether ANY of you all agree that ONE of a coach's jobs is to put butt's in seats, MANY of the best coaches admit that this IS one of their jobs. For most of us on this board - TRUE FANS - only winning will motivate us to show up EVERY week. Generally, we dont need to be patronized or given a pep talk to show up to games.
Unfortunately, we are - TOTAL - under 10K. To get the other 20-30K to show up, they have to be coaxed - along with winning. You all might not like it, but that is a simple fact.

[CajunVic]

Bottom line: whether ANY of you all agree that ONE of a coach's jobs is to put butt's in seats, MANY of the best coaches admit that this IS one of their jobs. For most of us on this board - TRUE FANS - only winning will motivate us to show up EVERY week. Generally, we dont need to be patronized or given a pep talk to show up to games.
Unfortunately, we are - TOTAL - under 10K. To get the other 20-30K to show up, they have to be coaxed - along with winning. You all might not like it, but that is a simple fact.

People with big money - those that can make a difference individually - like charisma, confidence, access and attention. HUD delivered that in the beginning. Many of those are still paying, but they are not going. And right now, they can't even give their tickets away.

To get those back and to lure others like them in the future, some of the same which HUD delivered will be needed along with performance.

That is also needed along with performance to lure the casual fan back.

Once that happens with a house built on a steady foundation (which is what Nape is doing that HUD did not) tradition will start to set in and we will be there. The quicker all of the pieces to the puzzle come together, the quicker tradition will begin to form.

This year we probably jumped the gun on implementing all of the increases. That was exacerbated by our schedule combined with our loss to CC in a game that was almost there for the taking. In the last three games, it has become obvious that the ship is in the process of being righted by the coaching staff.

Rosey times are ahead.

[zephyr]

I’ll stir the pot a little bit.

It is hard to overstate just how big of an impact Coach Hud had in getting fans into the stadium and getting people to buy in to the program. As good as Napier seems to be as a coach, this is one area he is lacking in. When Hud got here, he gave people (even the casual fans) a reason to invest their time and money into the program. People didn’t just show up because they thought they’d have a good time. It was more than that. They showed up because they felt obligated to. They bought in to the dream. Hud made them feel like a necessary and vital part of the team. And they felt like supporting this team mattered — that the team’s success would pay off for themselves, this city, and the University.

Hold the rope. Never let go. Pull in the same direction. It was brilliant.

We’ve talked a lot about why attendance has been low. But even if we make meaningful changes and start winning we might not ever get to Hud attendance levels again unless Napier can take a page out of Hud’s book and realize he is THE guy who needs to make a hard pitch to the community to buy in again. In G5 college football, it is not enough to just be a good football coach.

I would agree. I saw it firsthand. During Hud's first few years which were obviously his most successful, a buzz surrounded this program. Hud did a LOT of speaking to local clubs and organizations and was often the keynote speaker for various events. I attended a number of lunches where he was to speak and they were packed when they normally would have had half the attendance. People wanted to hear him talk and he was very good at it. I think this did a lot to bond the fans and contributors to the university and team. I don't think this can be expressed enough.

[cajun4life]

Just look to the east to see what kind of trend we are following. We are a microchosm of what has happened in Baton Rouge just a coaching hire behind in the process.

Jerry Baldwin=Curly Halman
Ricky Bustle=Gerry Dinardo
Mark Hudspeth=Nick Saban (started the facilities race)
Billy Napier=Les Miles (best coach they’ve ever had)

Now all we have to do is let the process work itself out and get ready for a fun ride. Our baseline for wins is going to be 8 a year. His first class is just the footings. If we sign everyone that is committed right now that will be the foundation. Follow that up with 2 more classes like our current one then we will have something special.

[cajun_lannister]

You guys are getting it all wrong....we need someone (T-Joe, any successful business person, alumnus, etc) to speak to the incoming freshman annually about having pride in the degree they will earn in 4 years...and how the more they respect their school and EVERYTHING about it, will lead to a more valuable plaque hanging in their office/wall...it has to start there and will eventually lead to pride in athletics

Yesh most 18 year olds don't give a ____ about that and won't give that speech a second thought. I remember for orientation I blew off everything they said.

[Jacob81]

When we beat miss state in the dome next year, all this talk will be pointless.

[ManAboutTown]

When we beat miss state in the dome next year, all this talk will be pointless.

Been saying this all year

[Redgineer]

nm

[CajunJeaux]

Yesh most 18 year olds don't give a ____ about that and won't give that speech a second thought. I remember for orientation I blew off everything they said.

Who gave the speech?...the orientation coordinator? Someone of no significance?