The Book: 2007 Football

[MissingMandy]

_ Atta girl MM!!!

The Krewe rocked before and after the game. Before the game the Mean Green cheerleaders came over, and were treated to some Cajun hospitality and food. We even had them dancing to the Roostah tune.

It was a great night. Not a perfect game, but the guys played hard. Can't ask for more than that, especially when you get a win.

When are you going to make another game? _

Hi Charlie....wish I could have been there but it was fun to watch it on ESPN PPV!! Really enjoyed it and felt so proud for the boys. Seems like everyone can find something wrong and it wasn't a perfect game, but we won. I know they feel a tremendous burden lifted from their shoulders. I'm not sure I will be back. We would like my husband to come to a couple of games (we have to be fair here) so he will probably be there and I will send him over to meet you guys and gals. Our oldest son is getting married (not KP) so I am busy planning that with just 8 weeks until the date!!! Take care. Mrs.P

[Clutch0364]

_ I trust you clutch! _

Glad someone does

[MissingMandy]

_ In no particular order here is why I think we are where we are:

1. Failure by the administration to support athletics and the growth of athletics 100% in the past 25 years.
2. Failure to set up a private fundraising organization.
3. Failure to market athletics properly.
4. Failure to get more donations from businesses and private individuals, both big donations and small donations.

You don't build a consistent winner without money. There is plenty of money in Lafayette and the Acadiana area. Unfortunately a great deal of money leaves this area and goes to Baton Rouge. Administration has to do a better job of getting people to "care" about UL athletics. We know football drives the bus so when we have a chance to prove we are on the rise, we need to learn how not to lay an egg. My belief is that after 1996 this program dropped to the very bottom of D-IA athletics and has been unable to turn the corner since then. We've had hopeful moments but I fear perception among the community is still where it was in 2000, when it comes to football. Doc A realized the importance of athletics to a university far too late and we are trying to playcatch up now and we've fallen so far behind it is scary. We have about an $8 million athletic budget and we need to increse it significantly by 2010. How we make that money will be determined by the decisions made by the AD and the new President. My only hope is that they realize the potential UL has and work to achieve our goals. _

Am I wrong when I say that every point you made is valid but all are about to change in one way or another? At last change is in the wind.
The old administration is on it's way out, we are getting an athletic foundation, we have new blood in the AD area with real concern for our program and marketing which in turn will bring in the money. Plus we now can get 3% funds from students fees and a gigantic boost of money from Cox. Let's all try to see the positive. There is REAL plausible change coming. I for one am glad my son will be a part of the next few years and all that it will bring.

[rhineaux]

Plus we now can get 3% funds from students fees

Can someone please explain this to me? did I miss something, or is this a result of the long needed increase a few months ago?

[rhineaux]

_ I was smart Saturday. Packed my son a bag with a towel and some toys. I saw it was raining so I put on his UL flip flops. Apparently kids like to stomp in puddles.

Of course I got to watch about 5 minutes before he went had to goto the bathroom. When we walked in there was a solid inch of water on the floor. I'm sure most of it was water.

Also he wanted some cotton candy. The first one I bought him was obviously from last week because it was hard and about 1/4 of the size of the bag. When I looked at it there were ants all over inside the bag. I brought it bag and they tried to sell me the line of bull____ that ... he put those outside before the others. Gimmie a break... _

David Walker and Scott Farmer probably need to hear your story.

[ULtimateCajun]

_ Am I wrong when I say that every point you made is valid but all are about to change in one way or another? At last change is in the wind.
The old administration is on it's way out, we are getting an athletic foundation, we have new blood in the AD area with real concern for our program and marketing which in turn will bring in the money. Plus we now can get 3% funds from students fees and a gigantic boost of money from Cox. Let's all try to see the positive. There is REAL plausible change coming. I for one am glad my son will be a part of the next few years and all that it will bring. _

I totally agree that changes are going to start taking place. New AD, New AD assistant (who was largely responsible for the Troy program rising), Soon to have a new President. I think this program will rise. If we can just produce on the field. As a die hard fan, I will be there supporting regardless. It's the casual fan that so many on this board say they don't really care about. Well those casual fans equal dollars, if we can get butts in the seats and and actually back up the hype of a big game, I think Lafayette is a great town to have a athletic program to be proud of. We can have people in the stadium. I was flabbergasted when I walked out at halftime sat. night to see a tent full of LSU shirt wearing fans having no interest in what was going on 200 feet in the stadium and making ME feel bad for missing the "flagship schools" biggest game of the year! WTF! we are in Lafayette! If we can get a core group of people in the front office that can make all of the good suggestions and ideas into reality, then I think this ship can be turned around.

[CajunGuru]

_ Folks this is what I was talking about last week when everyone was saying we cant afford to buy-out Bustle.... IMO we can't afford to NOT buy him out...

The community has this feeling about UL that it is stagnant... no direction... and worse no COMMITTMENT to football...And I'm not sure it is wrong...

So when you put together the "Perfect Storm" (Pun intended)... Terrible weather.... the game is on the tube... and oh yes that school accross the river is playing lights out (hate to admit it but true) and is on National TV.....

The Perfect Storm and the malaise in the community regarding UL Football is going to kill this program... That is whay I am so PASSIONATE about a change... one I know is not coming this year but I am still the lone voice in the wilderness

Think about it.. what an announcement like this would do


Well thats what I would do anyway............lol _

Rest assured, the money is available to buy Bustle out. The question remains, do these individuals believe that this administration will take action? David Walker has not been approached by these people yet, so lets see what happens by the end of football season.

[CajunGuru]

_ And it has not worked.... So you try again.... or maybe you like having 5,000 people in the stands and opening 0-5 after 6 years?? _

You are correct, hiring a BCS coordinator is no longer an option for a program at our level. First, no BCS coordinator worth a dime would except a head coaching position at this level and with our budget. They are looking for either a high Mid-major postition or a BCS position. Mid-major head coaches are looking for opportunities at BCS programs, they are not interested in moving backwards. That leaves us with several options:

Option 1.) Hire a winning head coach from a top Div1AA program. He will understand the budget restraints and how to run a program as a head coach.

Option 2.) Hire a top coordinator from a High Mid-Major Program. But it will cost you more then Bustle's salary and do you have enough funds to hire a quality staff afterwords?

Option 3.) Break the bank and hire a BCS coordinator like Stokely or Bustle, with no proven head coaching experience. And no funds available to hire a quality staff.

Option 4.) Hire a BCS position coach like Dooley, with no experince on how to run a program and break the bank. And again, no funds available to hire a quality staff.

Option 5.) Hire a High School coach from a national profile school that has won championships at a high level. This is the route North Texas decided upon in hiring Dodge.

Option 6.) Leave Bustle in place for another year and hope he rights the ship in 2008. Cost, low season ticket sales and preception of the program continues downward.

[TuffGuy84]

Hi Charlie....wish I could have been there but it was fun to watch it on ESPN PPV!! Really enjoyed it and felt so proud for the boys. Seems like everyone can find something wrong and it wasn't a perfect game, but we won. I know they feel a tremendous burden lifted from their shoulders. I'm not sure I will be back. We would like my husband to come to a couple of games (we have to be fair here) so he will probably be there and I will send him over to meet you guys and gals. Our oldest son is getting married (not KP) so I am busy planning that with just 8 weeks until the date!!! Take care. Mrs.P

Whoever wants to can be as negative as they want, but they can't take away the fact that it was a win that was DESPERATELY needed. You can make a negative out of anything if you truly look hard enough, but I thought there were more than enough positives to outweigh the negatives.

For instance,
+2 in turnovers
We won the second half for the second week in a row
We won without Wallace and with fenroy at about 70%
We won without both of our Starting tackles out (and both new guys came into their own in the second half)
Defense held 3rd and long conversions to a minimum vs a team that specialized to convert those types of plays.
and biggest player of the game, Dez gets 2 with his feet, and 2 with his hands.

With this being a win, I'll let the coaches take care of pointing out the mistakes.

Tuffguy

[anhil8tor]

Personally I weather one more storm. If/when attendance falls to unacceptable levels next year you can pull the plug on bustle.


That being said I think we could land Comeaux's high school football coach with our funds.