The Book: 2007 Football

[AstroCajun]

Nope... sorry... My heart burn is when I look at this community.... when I look at these facilities... when I look at this student body... When I realize that after 6 years we are picked to be in the MIDDLE of the worst conference in America.... I think we can do better... i think we have every right to expect to be on the level of So Miss and Troy and other legitimate mid-majors... And I dont like excuses... If its funding then ______ let's find out WHY we cant change formulas... ______ lets stop accepting this state of affairs....

Geez

What you are suggesting goes far beyond who is at HC. Change the HC, with the current infastructure and you are just repeating the same results.

I would favor a wholesale change in our attitudes starting at Martin Hall, on down to Reinhart and flowing through Cajundome Blvd., Congress, Johnston, Ambassador Caffery and on to the Thruway.

Until we change those attitudes, it really doesn't matter who the HC is.

[IHateLaState]

_ Grant Fleming is WAYYYY too undersized to be playing right now, but he does because he is the best linebacker we have and he has the heart of a lion.

He is gong to easily put another 20 pounds of muscle on that frame and quickly become the defensive leader next year.

The D-line simply lacks the required size or athleticism to hold their ground or come off of blocks, and our outmanned LB's just get overwhelmed. This was made very clear last week when Raymond didn't make the trip and we got steamrolled. _

Thats exactly what I was thinking... I love Fleming but I think he should probably be a safety... no??? and the D-line is awful... whats going to change??

[Zeebart21]

What you are suggesting goes far beyond who is at HC. Change the HC, with the current infastructure and you are just repeating the same results.

I would favor a wholesale change in our attitudes starting at Martin Hall, on down to Reinhart and flowing through Cajundome Blvd., Congress, Johnston, Ambassador Caffery and on to the Thruway.

Until we change those attitudes, it really doesn't matter who the HC is.

Yeah, well Martin Hall scares the livin' shirt out of me.....but if they leave Walker and Farmer alone to run this place like it should be run, I firmly believe we will be alright.

Z

[IHateLaState]

_ What you are suggesting goes far beyond who is at HC. Change the HC, with the current infastructure and you are just repeating the same results.

I would favor a wholesale change in our attitudes starting at Martin Hall, on down to Reinhart and flowing through Cajundome Blvd., Congress, Johnston, Ambassador Caffery and on to the Thruway.

Until we change those attitudes, it really doesn't matter who the HC is. _

Oh i disagree.... I think what we hired was a big time OC from a big time BCS school... I thought it was a great hire at first... But in retrospect I think perhaps (no inside knowldge) what we have is a guy who was used to calling the school's jet to head off and see a recruit... who in short was used to a nice budget to work with...

I think (JMHO) that this time we need a young guy from a 1-AA school or maybe (cringing) a HS coach or someone who is looking at us as a stepping stone... who is used to smaller budgets but will not let that be an excuse...

[CajunNation]

_ Oh i disagree.... I think what we hired was a big time OC from a big time BCS school... I thought it was a great hire at first... But in retrospect I think perhaps (no inside knowldge) what we have is a guy who was used to calling the school's jet to head off and see a recruit... who in short was used to a nice budget to work with...

I think (JMHO) that this time we need a young guy from a 1-AA school or maybe (cringing) a HS coach or someone who is looking at us as a stepping stone... who is used to smaller budgets but will not let that be an excuse... _

Given the list of guys who wanted the job, I was scratching my head for weeks after it was announced who got the job last time.

[Clutch0364]

_ Given the list of guys who wanted the job, I was scratching my head for weeks after it was announced who got the job last time. _

Other than Bustle who were the candidates last time? I dont recall who they were

[rhineaux]

_ Would you feel the same if we were still 1-6 but that one win was against McNeese?

Isn't that really the major source of heartburn around here?

That we lost to a pretty darn good team 74 miles away?

Would some of you feel the same way if we were 2-5 with wins against McNeese and NT?

How about 3-4 (Ohio, McNeese, NT)?

It's really about McNeese.

The McNeese loss ended the season for alot of people. _

Like Revere, my patience ran out last week. I've seen the issues that some people bring up with bustle having the lack of fire, not getting in people's faces, etc. I've also seen the arguements of the coaches doing a poor job of motivating the team. However, after this past week, when players came out saying THEY weren't ready to play...and to see the major step back that the team took, I have lost a lot of faith in bustle. I felt bad after McNeese, but always listened to the idea that this team was very young and would improve, etc. Afterall, there was some improvment being seen such as playing well after halftime and some of the other little things that had been going on. But the fact that these players admitted that they weren't ready to go, the defense ahd its worst game of the year, and the offense couldn't do more that just a couple 1st downs in the second half, shows me that nothign was done at halftime. how can a team, who played OK in the first 30 minutes (except for the D), come out in the second half and roll over? the D just quit, the offense quit trying. Maybe its wrong for me to say that they quit, but something happened at halftime, and it wasn't good. Its not the loss that I care about, i would have excepted a loss (although wouldn't ahve been happy about it) if I would have seen more growth and improvement and signs of them getting better. Its the fact that there was no production on either side of the ball, and giving up 30 unanswered points, or whatever it was. Its freaking atrocious.

I don't care if bustle is a good guy, or a good recruiter, or a good scheme-er. He has never been a great motivator, his teams over the last two years have not played up to their potential, they haven't been able to win the big games they should win, he has not been able to create a fire within this team, he has failed to fully solve the problems of this year's team. Right now, there are fewer than 5% of the population of Lafayette Parish that plan to be at Cajun Field on Saturday. That is unacceptable. And, while you may say that we should give it another year, I want you to think about that extra year, and the number of empty seats, and a potential loss to La Tech, and everything else bad that will happen if the "one more year" experiment DOESN'T work. Then what? then you have poor recruiting this year, poor recruiting next year. This team has already grown pretty far away from getting a big crowd to come to games, if bustle stays, and even if he's successful, there'll be some lackluster crowds in cajun field through next year. He has alienated many of the true fans, and more importantly, he may have alienated most of the fanbase we're tryiing to attract.

and, even if the guy is successful next year, what is success? Is it 6 wins? that will likely be a major improvement from this year, but isn't any better than the two years preceding this one, and it won't involve a bowl game. Is it 9 wins? That's probably what it would take to win this conference (overall record doesn't effect conf. championships, but its what some of our teams will do this year). What happens if its only 7 wins? that means we'll likely not win the conference championship. Likely means that we won't get a bowl game. My point is that Rickey Bustle would have to have lots of wins over the next two years to be considered successful. and, even if he makes it to a bowl game and does have continued success over the next several years, there will always be his detractors, his critics, etc who will remember this collapse. it will be like Tom Coughlin for the NY Giants. One game over .500 next year won't do it, and it would be hard to figure out how this team, young or not, will win 7 games next year, much less more than that. They are not properly motivated, obviously. They are not properly disciplined, obviously.

In summary, I don't see much of anything positive with keeping Rickey Bustle. The money we would save by not buying him out would not be close to the money we would lose by not getting a new coach and creating some excitement next year. What do you think Scott Farmer is thinking right now about trying to increase season tickets for next year? You think he's gonna be successful with RB still there?

The best thing that could happen right now is for them to let him go, and the team to be successful next year and go to a bowl game. It sucks to say it and its kinda like throwing him under the bus, and I would hate to do that, but it may have to be done. John Q. Public sees us fire him, thinks that we're serious about winning. We get a quality coach or break the bank and go for someone really hot that creates a stir, and JQP sees that we're serious about winnning. Our new coach doesn't do stupid commercials. Our new coach gets out and meets people and creates excitement, then he goes out and wins 8 games with Bustle's players, and then JQP (who doesn't really know anything about this program, but thinks he knows what's best for us all the same) is validated for all of his crap about firing bustle and complaining about his commercials, and saying he should have been fired, or that he took the easy way out by replacing his old coaches with new coaches who didn't perform as well, and finds some sort of link and a way for him to get with us, and he buys season tickets or starts coming to several games.

It might seem far-fetched, but if we wait around and do not act on whatever momentum is left and do something to keep it increasing, then we'll be where we were in 2001. this isn't about rebuilding again. there is a base there. there are athletes there. We just need some new blood to keep it up. right now, a new coach with a new fire and a new focus and new thoughts could come in and keep the momentum up. If we decide to wait, and we fail, then we will be back to where we were to begin with.

[anhil8tor]

Last week was a breaking point for myself too. I was always under the opinion that he would turn it around.. UL would get better.

After getting demolished last week I know now it won't get better. If the university feels that they should give him one more year, I think the attendance will reflect their decision. There is no reason for a major institution to stay bad for as long as we have. Its time to turn it around.

Look at our other sports. Basketball has made some serious strides and they are young. Baseball stays competitive. Softball hasn't missed a beat since Mrs girouard left...

[gridiron]

Is it because we don't have the money to buy him out? Is it because you like his commercials? Is it because he is a cheerleader on the sidelines? And don't tell me it took Beamer seven years because Bustle isn't Beamer and UL isn't Virginia Tech.

[AstroCajun]

I really do believe that we need some people to play the role of devil's advocate.

General Patton once said, "If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking."

What decisions we face in the next year should not be made lightly.