UL Commit Follows Billy to UF

[Cajun Monkee]

From what we know of Billy, I'd be surprised if he were putting the hard sell on any of these kids. I would imagine that he kept in touch with them, but let them make their own minds.

Which is good on several levels:
1) If it's about the kids, and our coaches insist it is, then we need to respect them, and let each one of them decide.
2) We don't want to arm-twist a player to come here when he really wants to be elsewhere.
3) If it was a Napier recruit, then the guy has put his faith in Napier... and now he gets a rare chance to jump to the 'big' time with a guy he trusts.

This is about people, and issues that are more important than W's & L's. The rest of us should respect that.

Can’t commit without an offer.

But, yeah we don’t know to what degree CBN reached out to the kid.

That said, put me on the side of getting rid of the early signing period.

The impact of the mad scramble that is happening between coaches getting fired and other coaches being offered ridiculous sums to leave their current positions that literally happens in a two week period could be lessened if everything had a little bit more time to work itself out.

JMHO

[CajunEXPRESS]

I don’t believe pushing the signing date back is going to close Pandora’s Box. Early firings are now part of the norm. That’s the only reason they’re talking about pushing it back.

[Big Buds]

Can’t commit without an offer.

But, yeah we don’t know to what degree CBN reached out to the kid.

That said, put me on the side of getting rid of the early signing period.

The impact of the mad scramble that is happening between coaches getting fired and other coaches being offered ridiculous sums to leave their current positions that literally happens in a two week period could be lessened if everything had a little bit more time to work itself out.

JMHO

No way. The early signing period has a big advantage for the G5 landing higher profile kids before P5s catch on and make an offer.

For years like this, it sucks. But I’ll take the little bad right now for the greater good later.

[CajunFun]

The impact of the mad scramble that is happening between coaches getting fired and other coaches being offered ridiculous sums to leave their current positions that literally happens in a two week period could be lessened if everything had a little bit more time to work itself out.

But how do we get around it? One of the commits who re-committed said that Dez had been working on him for years.

Let me put it like this: What if it were my kid? What if it were your kid? If he he/she had a good offer from UL, and you all know I love UL, but he/she decided to go elsewhere, I would respect & support that.

And I would get angry with anyone who tried to object or interfere. I think we all would.

Now, if they were making a decision to go to a school with a winning record and a shoddy reputation, or weak academics, or a poor campus attitude, or a school in a dangerous area, I might put my foot down. But it's not because of my personal preferences.

It's because of my personal responsibility.

[CrazyCajun]

He more than likely followed Darnell Stapleton, not billy technically. Nobody balked when we hired Viator and he brought an all conference lineman with him.

[CajunEXPRESS]

But how do we get around it? One of the commits who re-committed said that Dez had been working on him for years.

Let me put it like this: What if it were my kid? What if it were your kid? If he he/she had a good offer from UL, and you all know I love UL, but he/she decided to go elsewhere, I would respect & support that.

And I would get angry with anyone who tried to object or interfere. I think we all would.

Now, if they were making a decision to go to a school with a winning record and a shoddy reputation, or weak academics, or a poor campus attitude, or a school in a dangerous area, I might put my foot down. But it's not because of my personal preferences.

It's because of my personal responsibility.

Nobody is spending two seconds worrying about what a message board has to say about a changed commitment. They’re very happy with their new date and that’s a fact jack. We’re not getting demerits or bonus points.

[CajunFun]

Nobody is spending two seconds worrying about what a message board has to say about a changed commitment. They’re very happy with their new date and that’s a fact jack. We’re not getting demerits or bonus points.

I'm not so sure. Athletic recruits read these boards. Their parents read these boards. Students considering UL read these boards.

For better or worse, we are the most visible face of UL culture / cULture.

We are the most prominent presence of the University on the Internet. And I worry that too many people here are quite cavalier about that honor, and that responsibility.

[Grantvb]

“ Now, if they were making a decision to go to a school with a winning record and a shoddy reputation, or weak academics, or a poor campus attitude, or a school in a dangerous area, I might put my foot down. But it's not because of my personal preferences….”

This….all day long

[Bandwagon King]

Can’t commit without an offer.

But, yeah we don’t know to what degree CBN reached out to the kid.

That said, put me on the side of getting rid of the early signing period.

The impact of the mad scramble that is happening between coaches getting fired and other coaches being offered ridiculous sums to leave their current positions that literally happens in a two week period could be lessened if everything had a little bit more time to work itself out.

JMHO

I love the early signing period. It's just another thing that puts P-5 schools & their spoiled rotten fan bases under pressure to "perform" & stresses out their resources, especially with the attitude of win now, or pack your bags. This is the one place a school like Louisiana which has had to practice patience as way of doing business.

[Cajun Monkee]

I don’t believe pushing the signing date back is going to close Pandora’s Box. Early firings are now part of the norm. That’s the only reason they’re talking about pushing it back.

I just think that the need to replace Mullen would not have been as urgent if there was no such thing as an early signing period.

And I think that this urgency that is created results in knee-jerk reactions on the part of people further up the food chain.

Allegedly, we’ve heard stories that Napier was leveraging offers between LSU and Florida.

Allegedly, Lincoln Riley was leveraging LSU against other people.

A couple of years ago, it was stories that Tom Herman was leveraging offers between Texas and LSU.

Now I realize that this is how people are going to negotiate, but still, in my opinion, there is A built-in urgency that only benefits the P fives.