Id be shocked if USM doesn't do a smaller more targeted version of the Texas State roster overhaul......they need new experienced players AND a lot of them to have any chance to make a quick rebound. Focus on 3 positions in portal: OL, DL and then blow up your NIL credit card on a decent QB or two.
The biggest concern for Coach Hall and staff........Recruiting and development of skill positions from HS/JC in MS (plus 150-200 mile radius of Hattiesburg) shouldn't be an issue in building a quality 2 deep AND quickly.....but somehow it is a major concern.
You bring up a very good point. Why do they show up and we don't?
My answer: they are FANS of their team. They go to the game to watch THEIR team play and they cheer them on, they are involved in the game because they want their team to win.
There are many, many posts on here about what to do to fix this. IMO, the answer is inside of each person, the passion for the CAJUNS needs to be there. The other stuff is fluff. So, how do you instiil in a UL student, a UL alumni, an Acadiana native, the passion of being a CAJUN?
If we can answer that we fix a lot of woes.
This is a great example of how close many G5 teams are away from being extremely relevant to completely irrelevant. What I mean by this, is we went from being a Top 20 team to a barely .500 team overnight in one season, granted it was a coaching loss and a number of players leaving after that coaching loss, but USM is a great example of this. They were everyone's expected darling of the SBC last year after turning around their previous poor seasons and finishing the season 7-6 with a win over Rice in the Lending Tree Bowl, one year later with very little turnover, they are 1-6 with awful losses across the board.
You can say the same about many teams in the MWC, CUSA, MAC and AAC as well. Tulane showed how they can go from a mediocre team to the darling of the national spotlight overnight.
The margin for error for a G5 team that is close to being relevant and a top 25 team is so slim, a few losses of players here or there and a 9-3 team can be 3-9 pretty quickly. I think App State is going through that right now as is Coastal Carolina as well as us. That is what makes the SBC so interesting, the middle of the pack to the top are only separated by a small margin and if something happens player wise that changes drastically.
I think the Cajuns have proven they are really close to being really good, but they are also a player or 3 away in the right position from having issues.
I could see UL winning all 6 of their remaining games or going 2-4, that is how close they are to being either a 10-2 or a 6-6 team. I still think if all things go well, ULM, Arkansas State and USM should be wins, Georgia State, Troy and USA are going to be all out wars.
But that being said, ULM, A-State and USM are all teams that have players that could challenge us if we do not play up to our potential.
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