Cajuns, 'Cocks Travel The Same Road
posted by Scott Hood, Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Here’s what Bustle told me he faced when he left Virginia Tech in 2002 to take over the downtrodden ULL program:
-- Players poisoned by attitude problems;
-- Inadequate facilities;
-- Low expectations by fans;
-- Cynical mainstream media;
-- Resistance from local high school prospects.
Gee, sound familiar?
Steve Spurrier encountered many of those same obstacles when he became the USC head coach shortly after the 2004 season. Now entering his third season in Columbia, Spurrier has succeeded in partially eradicating some of the dreariness that surrounded the Gamecock program three years ago.
I say “partially” because problems still persist. There are still a few players hanging around who haven’t totally bought into Spurrier’s methods but, fortunately, the number is dwindling every year.
The exceptionally high percentage of players participating in this summer’s conditioning program is evidence the attitudes of the players are finally changing for the better.
It’s fair to say the players understand that unless they stand up and compete hard, they’re going to get run over by the stampede behind them.
But the attitudes of the players are changing in another way: they’re coming to USC expecting to win. Not just a lot of games but a conference championship too.
I can’t say that’s always been the case. Past teams have been ripped part by petty jealousies and lost focus, especially late in the season.
Bustle told me that upon his arrival he had to convince the veteran players he could show them the way to win. No doubt, Spurrier faced the same concerns considering most of the players on his first team in 2005 had been recruited by Lou Hotz and his staff.
Strength and conditioning coach Mark Smith explained it best when I spoke with him a few weeks ago: the miserably low participation rate during Spurrier’s first summer (2005) was due in large part to the belief held by many USC players at the time that working hard wouldn’t matter, that USC would lose anyways when the season started. In essence, why bother?
But now that the players have experienced some success, they feel a little extra effort will pull them towards the top of the SEC Eastern Division in 2007.
The players at Louisiana-Lafayette feel the same way. After consecutive six-win seasons – the first for the program in a decade – Bustle sees their belief in the program growing.
Of course, the Gamecocks have an advantage over ULL in that they're the flagship university of their state and compete in the SEC. The Ragin' Cajuns miust deal every day with the behemoth known as LSU.
But ULL is starting to overcome that handicap.
When I spoke with him, Bustle was particularly proud of the fact that the expectations of the Ragin’ Cajin fans have risen considerably over the past two years. In fact, some fans expressed disappointmrnt over ULL's 6-6 campaign in 2006. In Bustle's mind, that’s a strong indication the ULL program is making progress.
Great coaches welcome high expectations and are eager to coach at programs where fans demand excellence.
The best example of that in Columbia is baseball coach Ray Tanner. He’s stated many times he wants Gamecock fans to have high expectations for his program, and doesn’t cower in the corner when fans express disappointment over the performance of the team.
What were the expectations of Gamecock Nation prior to the 2005 season? In my opinion, many of them were happy with six or seven win seasons and going to a bowl game. SEC Championship? Forget it. That was a fantastic fantasy.
But Spurrier has raised the stakes. While the primary goal for his first two seasons was posting a winning record and qualifying for a bowl game, that will no longer be acceptable for the Gamecocks.
It’s all about winning championships now.
Here’s the key question: Will Spurrier have to drag the fans along with him as USC climbs the SEC mountain or will the fans pull the team over the top?
I’ve always believed that the fuel for the engines of the most successful programs in college football was the demand for excellence by their fans. Funny thing, when fans expect more they usually get it.
When fans hunger for victory, the coaches and players know they must satisfy the appetite or they’ll end up on the unemployment line or the sidelines.
One of the principal byproducts of winning is a better reception from recruits. We saw signs of that last February with USC’s No. 6 class.
The top-shelf college football teams share three essential elements: 1) the players expect to win; 2) the fans demand to win; 3) the recruits know they’ll win.
How many of those three elements does USC possess?
When the day comes that you can say ‘all of them’, USC will be ready to take its place among the college football elite.
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The longer I interviewed Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Rick Bustle on Tuesday for the first of our series of articles previewing South Carolina’s 12 regular season opponents, the more I was struck by the parallels between his experiences building the Ragin’ Cajun program and those of Steve Spurrier.
Here’s what Bustle told me he faced when he left Virginia Tech in 2002 to take over the downtrodden ULL program:
-- Players poisoned by attitude problems;
-- Inadequate facilities;
-- Low expectations by fans;
-- Cynical mainstream media;
-- Resistance from local high school prospects.
Gee, sound familiar?
Steve Spurrier encountered many of those same obstacles when he became the USC head coach shortly after the 2004 season. Now entering his third season in Columbia, Spurrier has succeeded in partially eradicating some of the dreariness that surrounded the Gamecock program three years ago.
I say “partially” because problems still persist. There are still a few players hanging around who haven’t totally bought into Spurrier’s methods but, fortunately, the number is dwindling every year.
The exceptionally high percentage of players participating in this summer’s conditioning program is evidence the attitudes of the players are finally changing for the better.
It’s fair to say the players understand that unless they stand up and compete hard, they’re going to get run over by the stampede behind them.
But the attitudes of the players are changing in another way: they’re coming to USC expecting to win. Not just a lot of games but a conference championship too.
I can’t say that’s always been the case. Past teams have been ripped part by petty jealousies and lost focus, especially late in the season.
Bustle told me that upon his arrival he had to convince the veteran players he could show them the way to win. No doubt, Spurrier faced the same concerns considering most of the players on his first team in 2005 had been recruited by Lou Hotz and his staff.
Strength and conditioning coach Mark Smith explained it best when I spoke with him a few weeks ago: the miserably low participation rate during Spurrier’s first summer (2005) was due in large part to the belief held by many USC players at the time that working hard wouldn’t matter, that USC would lose anyways when the season started. In essence, why bother?
But now that the players have experienced some success, they feel a little extra effort will pull them towards the top of the SEC Eastern Division in 2007.
The players at Louisiana-Lafayette feel the same way. After consecutive six-win seasons – the first for the program in a decade – Bustle sees their belief in the program growing.
Of course, the Gamecocks have an advantage over ULL in that they're the flagship university of their state and compete in the SEC. The Ragin' Cajuns miust deal every day with the behemoth known as LSU.
But ULL is starting to overcome that handicap.
When I spoke with him, Bustle was particularly proud of the fact that the expectations of the Ragin’ Cajin fans have risen considerably over the past two years. In fact, some fans expressed disappointmrnt over ULL's 6-6 campaign in 2006. In Bustle's mind, that’s a strong indication the ULL program is making progress.
Great coaches welcome high expectations and are eager to coach at programs where fans demand excellence.
The best example of that in Columbia is baseball coach Ray Tanner. He’s stated many times he wants Gamecock fans to have high expectations for his program, and doesn’t cower in the corner when fans express disappointment over the performance of the team.
What were the expectations of Gamecock Nation prior to the 2005 season? In my opinion, many of them were happy with six or seven win seasons and going to a bowl game. SEC Championship? Forget it. That was a fantastic fantasy.
But Spurrier has raised the stakes. While the primary goal for his first two seasons was posting a winning record and qualifying for a bowl game, that will no longer be acceptable for the Gamecocks.
It’s all about winning championships now.
Here’s the key question: Will Spurrier have to drag the fans along with him as USC climbs the SEC mountain or will the fans pull the team over the top?
I’ve always believed that the fuel for the engines of the most successful programs in college football was the demand for excellence by their fans. Funny thing, when fans expect more they usually get it.
When fans hunger for victory, the coaches and players know they must satisfy the appetite or they’ll end up on the unemployment line or the sidelines.
One of the principal byproducts of winning is a better reception from recruits. We saw signs of that last February with USC’s No. 6 class.
The top-shelf college football teams share three essential elements: 1) the players expect to win; 2) the fans demand to win; 3) the recruits know they’ll win.
How many of those three elements does USC possess?
When the day comes that you can say ‘all of them’, USC will be ready to take its place among the college football elite.
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.