2009 Sunbelt Recruiting Rankings

[CajunNation]

I take all of this stuff with a huge grain of salt myself. Regarding the SBC, it is really, really hard for me to believe that WKU outrecruited Blakeney at Troy and Schnellenberger at FAU just to name a couple. To me that would be akin to U of K football outrecruiting U of Alabama and U of Florida.

Interesting.

In terms of budget, and many here like to remind us that money is everything,....

Florida Atlantic is 5th in the SBC
Troy is 6th in the SBC
UL is 7th in the SBC

But hey, we're all in the SBC, which is college football purgatory, so money is not the deciding factor amongst ourselves. It's people.

As far as I can tell, WKU has some really exceptional people running their sports programs.

They are the unquestioned class of the league in basketball, and are picked to win the league this year in baseball as well after going to regionals last year.

They hire GREAT coaches, and I don't see any reason why their obvious committment to excellence shouldn't continue to the football field.

[Just1More]

_ Interesting.

In terms of budget, and many here like to remind us that money is everything,....

Florida Atlantic is 5th in the SBC
Troy is 6th in the SBC
UL is 7th in the SBC

But hey, we're all in the SBC, which is college football purgatory, so money is not the deciding factor amongst ourselves. It's people.

As far as I can tell, WKU has some really exceptional people running their sports programs.

They are the unquestioned class of the league in basketball, and are picked to win the league this year in baseball as well after going to regionals last year.

They hire GREAT coaches, and I don't see any reason why their obvious committment to excellence shouldn't continue to the football field. _

Private funding done right is everything. It is not ALL about the money... it has to do with expanded stakeholders and hitching failure up to pink slips and success up to bonuses... for the people you pay for performance. It starts a culture that tranforms programs into winners when fans believe the system is dead serious about their business.

But yes... when 3 guys are sitting around arguing who has more money... $5.01, $5.05 and $5.08 is not worth "ranking".

Back to recruit ranking... I thought we all decided last year that recruit rating/ranking didn't mean much outside of the top 40 teams. Teams in the SBC do not qualify for consideration.

It seems like some of the same people that are overly concerned about our recruits' "stars" are the ones concerned about MD, Fenroy and Chery being gone next year... you know... the stars who had no stars. Interesting.

Another thing I figured the majority of people had come to a reasonable consensus on was that, retrospectively, we had a solid team last year... short the landslide in injuries. It isn't easy to convince me to be a blind cheerleader... but I saw signs of some better coaching and a very inspired group of good players last year.

I seriously fear that we may be decent this year and let a lot of people down on this forum.

[IHateLaState]

_ Lol, "Bowl Eligible" with how many freshmen lettering?

Here is how it works, you spend the money, then the time clock for improvement starts...

While folks may have been chatting away 2 years ago, the "real sports fan" clock did not start until the 2008 recruiting class, after some money had been invested... _

Ah yes.. The "REAL FAN".... not those who have bought Season tickets for over 25 years and have been to places like Florida, Auburn, Tennesse and ... ahem... the den of inequity in br.. to support the team... Naaa the REAL FAN supports mediocrity without complaint... The REAL FAN never questions a ranking of close to last... The REAL FAN says its ok to be in the middle of the pack of the worst conference in America... ah yes the REAL FAN

[DestinCajun]

Interesting.

In terms of budget, and many here like to remind us that money is everything,....

Florida Atlantic is 5th in the SBC
Troy is 6th in the SBC
UL is 7th in the SBC

But hey, we're all in the SBC, which is college football purgatory, so money is not the deciding factor amongst ourselves. It's people.

As far as I can tell, WKU has some really exceptional people running their sports programs.

They are the unquestioned class of the league in basketball, and are picked to win the league this year in baseball as well after going to regionals last year.

They hire GREAT coaches, and I don't see any reason why their obvious committment to excellence shouldn't continue to the football field.

We can post here all day long about what is "everything" in terms of athletic budgets but to ignore the impact of serious money on athletic success is sticking your head in the sand. As far as WKU's 2009 recruiting class goes, save these posts and let's get together in 3-5 years and you can make your case on how good this class is/was. My opinion on Troy and FAU is based upon their coaches proven records of success and really nothing to do with WKU.

[Just1More]

_ Ah yes.. The "REAL FAN".... not those who have bought Season tickets for over 25 years and have been to places like Florida, Auburn, Tennesse and ... ahem... the den of inequity in br.. to support the team... Naaa the REAL FAN supports mediocrity without complaint... The REAL FAN never questions a ranking of close to last... The REAL FAN says its ok to be in the middle of the pack of the worst conference in America... ah yes the REAL FAN _

Hate, I can understand the train of thought in this last post... but... rankings are a result of something... not a cause. The cause is our admin... of everything we are. You can have the greatest fans in the world and an admin can completely destroy putting that fanship into motion. Ours (UL) has done that for decades. 98% of what we argue about on here is a result of bad administration.

I could care less about rankings, ratings, and stars. Are they a result? Yes. But, we do not need a whole lot of results to know we need to improve. The ratings and rankings are subjective. The scoreboard is not. That result tells me all I need to know. Our admin is the absolute only place to place our frustration. There isn't a fan on here that deserves any other fan's wrath. We are in-fighting because we are unhappy. I don't care about these outside delinquents that join in to stir up our aggravation... but those who support the program in any way need to focus their frustration at and on our admin.

Those guys are fortunate to have jobs at UL. They act like they "own" UL because they are employed where the bricks are. WE own UL... all of US. They get paid. We do not. Our badges are bigger... but they get to hold OUR keys to the facilities. Our biggest cultural problem at UL is that we hug these guys even when they are mediocre or less. They point to outsiders as our problems... and have been professionals historically at redirecting our aggravation at those outsiders. The outsiders suck, no doubt... but we have minimal control over them. The only way we are going to improve is for all of us to start giving our UL admin a massive dose of displeasure. Quit hugging these guys. They need to perform or either take a shot to the jaw... or get the heck off the property.

It is not the fans. It is the admin. Punch them in the mouth and then help them off the floor. Then kick them in the groin and pick them back up. Buy them a beer and tell them how much you like the Cajuns. Then, tell them that when they do a great job, you want to have a beer with them, eat good and laugh hard. But, remind them... fail to put us together and succeed... "remember the kick to the groin?"

So yes... because WE, the real fans, do not light a fire under our administration... Jay Walker is right... it is the fans at UL that are at fault. He thinks it is because we do not support enough. I agree. We need to start supporting our left leg as our right leg slams into our admins' butts.

If they have some "super RCAF" coming out soon... they need to know that we aren't "buying" some half-butt attempt. It better be measurable and their livelihoods need to be the penalty for non-conformance. It is how I feel about this ridiculous stimulus package coming out of Washington... and I feel the same way about our admin at UL. The people that run organizations these days... mostly with political skills only... are pathetic.

[beavis11]

Hey Just1More,

Why don't you tell us how you REALLY feel !!!!!!!!
Thing is I know we all feel the same way about UL and our gov't "leaders"

[RCAJUN90]

_ Interesting.

In terms of budget, and many here like to remind us that money is everything,....

Florida Atlantic is 5th in the SBC
Troy is 6th in the SBC
UL is 7th in the SBC

But hey, we're all in the SBC, which is college football purgatory, so money is not the deciding factor amongst ourselves. It's people.

As far as I can tell, WKU has some really exceptional people running their sports programs.

They are the unquestioned class of the league in basketball, and are picked to win the league this year in baseball as well after going to regionals last year.

They hire GREAT coaches, and I don't see any reason why their obvious committment to excellence shouldn't continue to the football field. _

I think you hit the nail on the head. Few would argue that money doesn't help but it is not everything. Especially in the Belch. Where did you get that information?

[4LSU]

"...let's get together in 3-5 years..."

If only judgments could be put off, huh. I'm afraid, good or bad, that's not the world we live in. It's all bout expectations and those don't normally wait 3-5 yrs anywhere.

[IHateLaState]

_ Hate, I can understand the train of thought in this last post... but... rankings are a result of something... not a cause. The cause is our admin... of everything we are. You can have the greatest fans in the world and an admin can completely destroy putting that fanship into motion. Ours (UL) has done that for decades. 98% of what we argue about on here is a result of bad administration.

I could care less about rankings, ratings, and stars. Are they a result? Yes. But, we do not need a whole lot of results to know we need to improve. The ratings and rankings are subjective. The scoreboard is not. That result tells me all I need to know. Our admin is the absolute only place to place our frustration. There isn't a fan on here that deserves any other fan's wrath. We are in-fighting because we are unhappy. I don't care about these outside delinquents that join in to stir up our aggravation... but those who support the program in any way need to focus their frustration at and on our admin.

Those guys are fortunate to have jobs at UL. They act like they "own" UL because they are employed where the bricks are. WE own UL... all of US. They get paid. We do not. Our badges are bigger... but they get to hold OUR keys to the facilities. Our biggest cultural problem at UL is that we hug these guys even when they are mediocre or less. They point to outsiders as our problems... and have been professionals historically at redirecting our aggravation at those outsiders. The outsiders suck, no doubt... but we have minimal control over them. The only way we are going to improve is for all of us to start giving our UL admin a massive dose of displeasure. Quit hugging these guys. They need to perform or either take a shot to the jaw... or get the heck off the property.

It is not the fans. It is the admin. Punch them in the mouth and then help them off the floor. Then kick them in the groin and pick them back up. Buy them a beer and tell them how much you like the Cajuns. Then, tell them that when they do a great job, you want to have a beer with them, eat good and laugh hard. But, remind them... fail to put us together and succeed... "remember the kick to the groin?"

So yes... because WE, the real fans, do not light a fire under our administration... Jay Walker is right... it is the fans at UL that are at fault. He thinks it is because we do not support enough. I agree. We need to start supporting our left leg as our right leg slams into our admins' butts.

If they have some "super RCAF" coming out soon... they need to know that we aren't "buying" some half-butt attempt. It better be measurable and their livelihoods need to be the penalty for non-conformance. It is how I feel about this ridiculous stimulus package coming out of Washington... and I feel the same way about our admin at UL. The people that run organizations these days... mostly with political skills only... are pathetic. _

Amen brother... great post.... and if I have not been clear my real displeasure IS with the administration. The lack of committment to improve things.. the acceptance of mediocrity for YEARS... I do think the toruble lies with the fans but not for a lack of support...I think we can be blamed for not being more vocal in our displeasure of the way athletics is being run... I think we compare favorably with many of the mid majors attendance wise and that in light of the absymal products that are year in and year out put in front of us... Certainly there are exceptions like softball (missing them today but watching on KLAF... I will be there tonite) and baseball.... but as everyone knows football drives the bus ( to quote Tony) and that product is down right embarrassing... sorry folks but its true..... try being me... hating a&m@br while they are doing what they are doing and supporting my Cajuns.. I will always support them but I wont be quiet about this administration

[MetryCajun]

_ Hate, I can understand the train of thought in this last post... but... rankings are a result of something... not a cause. The cause is our admin... of everything we are. You can have the greatest fans in the world and an admin can completely destroy putting that fanship into motion. Ours (UL) has done that for decades. 98% of what we argue about on here is a result of bad administration.

I could care less about rankings, ratings, and stars. Are they a result? Yes. But, we do not need a whole lot of results to know we need to improve. The ratings and rankings are subjective. The scoreboard is not. That result tells me all I need to know. Our admin is the absolute only place to place our frustration. There isn't a fan on here that deserves any other fan's wrath. We are in-fighting because we are unhappy. I don't care about these outside delinquents that join in to stir up our aggravation... but those who support the program in any way need to focus their frustration at and on our admin.

Those guys are fortunate to have jobs at UL. They act like they "own" UL because they are employed where the bricks are. WE own UL... all of US. They get paid. We do not. Our badges are bigger... but they get to hold OUR keys to the facilities. Our biggest cultural problem at UL is that we hug these guys even when they are mediocre or less. They point to outsiders as our problems... and have been professionals historically at redirecting our aggravation at those outsiders. The outsiders suck, no doubt... but we have minimal control over them. The only way we are going to improve is for all of us to start giving our UL admin a massive dose of displeasure. Quit hugging these guys. They need to perform or either take a shot to the jaw... or get the heck off the property.

It is not the fans. It is the admin. Punch them in the mouth and then help them off the floor. Then kick them in the groin and pick them back up. Buy them a beer and tell them how much you like the Cajuns. Then, tell them that when they do a great job, you want to have a beer with them, eat good and laugh hard. But, remind them... fail to put us together and succeed... "remember the kick to the groin?"

So yes... because WE, the real fans, do not light a fire under our administration... Jay Walker is right... it is the fans at UL that are at fault. He thinks it is because we do not support enough. I agree. We need to start supporting our left leg as our right leg slams into our admins' butts.

If they have some "super RCAF" coming out soon... they need to know that we aren't "buying" some half-butt attempt. It better be measurable and their livelihoods need to be the penalty for non-conformance. It is how I feel about this ridiculous stimulus package coming out of Washington... and I feel the same way about our admin at UL. The people that run organizations these days... mostly with political skills only... are pathetic. _

Good post. I have to admit I have come around to your way of thinking. For good and bad UL has always been an insular community. Loyalty has always been the best way to move up the ranks. This is why it is so hard to change a culture. So far I have seen little difference in style or substance in the "new" administration. If things do not change drastically expect the improvement to be measured and bring about more frustration.
As you alluded to, our frustration is he ony way this program is going to change.