Anybody have more info on this?

I'm not a fan of Bob West's cookbook-style columns, but I found this interesting:

 

One of my all-time best sources says Ray Woodard probably coached his last football game at Lamar University Saturday night, even if the Cardinals managed to upset McNeese State. The source cited lack of attendance, especially among LU students, as well as not winning enough games. Woodard, who was 18-27 entering the McNeese game, took on the challenge of bringing Cardinals football back after the program had been shut down in 1989. According to the source, an annoucement on the change could come as early as today. If Lamar did knock off McNeese

I am not sure. I have two really good sources at LU that will remain nameless, and one says he is safe and the other says he will be let go on Monday. We shall see.

There were strong rumors and again I say rumors that a couple weeks ago his future could be linked to how the final two games of the season played out. Two embarrassing losses to SFA then McNeese at home may have been the end of the road but the team went out and beat SFA and went toe to toe with the #6 ranked team in the FCS until the final whistle. I will say this, they lost 5 games by close margins and week after week after losing those close contest against quality teams they never quit on these coaches. They went out and played hard and competed every single week. Is that enough to translate into another season for Woodard? I have no idea and anything reported at this point are just rumors.

I thought he had turned the page and he had saved his job...but maybe I'm wrong. They were in every game except OSU and a better team to watch. The problem is no one came to watch. Part of that blame has to fall on the AD.

Personally, I hope he stays as I see progress but I've heard he is gone. Again, I don't think it's a good move unless they are willing to pay a lot more for a coach.

 

Lets be honest, Beaumont can be a hard sell to recruits and unless the head coach has a big name or well known locally; a change at the head coach position isn't the change needed.

 

To expect different results without the athletic dept and school administration willing to do all it takes to win here it isn't going to happen!

 

I could be wrong but if you look at the history of Lamar football there have been many coaching changes. The records don't indicate the future was better with a different face on the sidelines as the Head Coach...

I agree. Unless they Are willing to pay more pay for an established coach with D1 experience they should

Stick with what they have. Back in the 70's and 80's LU went through one coach after another with little results

 

p.s. With the exception of Billy Tubbs, Bob West has hated every LU football and basketball coach that has come along. You might get a positive comment from him if they fired Jimmy Johnson.

Lamar is a lot better team this year. It's a little nerve racking on making a coaching change. What will Lamar get, another 3 years of rebuilding. I think they should give Coach Woodard another year. I really believe Lamar will win a lot of games next year. There is a lot of young talent on this team.

 

This is Woodard's fourth year, first senior class where we are able to compete on an even playing field, he is bringing in good recruits(2 nonredshirt freshman started this year), we have gone toe to toe with the big boys in the FCS all year long, and we are one year away from a winning season and potentially more...

 

All you guys who say we should have been winning now or before now is crazy... Site all the examples you want,, this is beaumont texas....We compete for recruits with McNeese, sFA, and SAM who are all perennial winners.

 

Is it lucky that this year, the fourth year, we are competitive?? Luck has nothing to do with it.. We are about to be a winner with the coach who built the program from zero.

 

Ask SFA and Northwestern ST what they think about their coaches... You guys ever hear them talk? No offense to those guys but i listened to each of them and i was not impressed with their general knowledge and understanding of the game and with their ability to communicate. Say what you want, Woodard understands football. I will take the big ole country boy we got over those guys any day. We have a 'good' man and a 'good' coach right now.. Is any coach perfect? Is any employee or boss or leader perfect?? Perfection doesn't exist.

 

Think that things cant be worse???? Oh yes it can...

 

We should not fire him now, in my opinion. We owe him one more years salary.. Let him earn the salary and make the decision after next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

now is not the time to make a change...give RayRay one more year...set the bar high though...no playoffs in 2014? then no Woodard for 2015... and fyi...poor student attendance is not the problem....losing football games is the problem...

now is not the time to make a change...give RayRay one more year...set the bar high though...no playoffs in 2014? then no Woodard for 2015... and fyi...poor student attendance is not the problem....losing football games is the problem...

 

Lamar sports teams win, Lamar fans and students show up. It's that simple. I say give him another year unless you have a big name already lined up to take his place.

I think it'd be a poor decision to let Ray go at this time. I'm not at all crazy about Kueck and wouldn't mind seeing him move on/get pushed out (the whole handling of KJ is simply not acceptable), but I think Ray deserves another year. I was quite skeptical coming into this year, because last year was just so damned ugly, but, in the end, the minimum goals I thought were acceptable for this year were accomplished, and there was clear evidence of improvement:

 

[li] Last year, one of the worst teams in FBS (Hawaii) blew us out, and we looked like we didn't even belong on the field. This year, we hung with--and nearly beat--a lower-tier FBS team that was still quite a bit better this year than Hawaii was last year. It took a Top-10 team (Oklahoma State) to put an ass-whipping on us that last year was put on us by an awful FBS team. That's improvement.[/li]
[li] Last year, we were blown out of several conference games, including several on our own field. We were in every game this year, and the only team to convincingly beat us in conference were the undefeated conference champions that were playing on their own field. This was a reasonable demand by the fan base: getting blown out by Southland Conference foes isn't acceptable. It didn't happen this year.[/li]
[li] Yeah, we were 5-7 and 2-5 in conference. But we were literally two plays from being 7-5 (Central Arkansas and McNeese), and perhaps a few more from being 9-3 (Sam Houston and Louisiana Tech). The only game we won that we "could have lost" was the game against SFA. I'm not saying it's a great year, but, we're not talking about building a statue of Woodard... we're talking about letting him finish out his contract. IMHO, this year is nowhere near the sort of year that should get a fourth-year coach fired. [/li]

 

With essentially all the offensive playmakers coming back next year, we should have a potent offense. The defense needs improvement--especially given the number of players we're losing this year on that side of the ball. We need to play much better against the run; Northwestern and McNeese all ran the ball down our throats, which was the difference in both of those games.

 

Ray's got another year on his contract, and I don't think making a change now would be prudent. We'd have to buy out the last year, and is there really someone lined up ready to come to LU?

now is not the time to make a change...give RayRay one more year...set the bar high though...no playoffs in 2014? then no Woodard for 2015... and fyi...poor student attendance is not the problem....losing football games is the problem...

 

Lamar sports teams win, Lamar fans and students show up. It's that simple. I say give him another year unless you have a big name already lined up to take his place.

I agree. If we don't have a big name lined up and not willing to up the ante we need to stick with Coach Woodard. They are moving in the right direction...let's not mess that up.

fire him

Puddin you'd fire your mother if the team didn't win 9 games the first year.

Ray's not going anywhere. So, I guess we all have the luxury of listening to Puddin bitch for another season. Lucky us..... :)

Ray's not going anywhere. So, I guess we all have the luxury of listening to Puddin bitch for another season. Lucky us..... :)

You should prolly just listen to him period. He's the only LU poster on this site with at least 4 brain cells.

 

Look at what Roberts did at SELA with half the time and far less money. Ya'll justify keeping blame-the- fans-because-its-tied-to-my-bonus-Woodard because you aren't losing by as much?

 

#HighStandards

 

As an SHSU fan I would never want to lose to LU. That would be extremely embarrassing. Keeping RayRay would be the absolute best thing to prevent that. So by all means, give that hack a contract extension.

 

This is Woodard's fourth year, first senior class where we are able to compete on an even playing field, he is bringing in good recruits(2 nonredshirt freshman started this year), we have gone toe to toe with the big boys in the FCS all year long, and we are one year away from a winning season and potentially more...

 

All you guys who say we should have been winning now or before now is crazy... Site all the examples you want,, this is beaumont texas....We compete for recruits with McNeese, sFA, and SAM who are all perennial winners.

 

Is it lucky that this year, the fourth year, we are competitive?? Luck has nothing to do with it.. We are about to be a winner with the coach who built the program from zero.

 

Ask SFA and Northwestern ST what they think about their coaches... You guys ever hear them talk? No offense to those guys but i listened to each of them and i was not impressed with their general knowledge and understanding of the game and with their ability to communicate. Say what you want, Woodard understands football. I will take the big ole country boy we got over those guys any day. We have a 'good' man and a 'good' coach right now.. Is any coach perfect? Is any employee or boss or leader perfect?? Perfection doesn't exist.

 

Think that things cant be worse???? Oh yes it can...

 

We should not fire him now, in my opinion. We owe him one more years salary.. Let him earn the salary and make the decision after next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I love how people like to say it is tough to recruit or sell Beaumont. Let's see we compete against: nacogdoches, Huntsville, Houma la, natchitoches(sp), thibodeaux, Conway ar, and lake Charles. Which of those cities is some kind of Mecca? And what about college station or Waco or Lubbock. The city has almost nothing to do with it. The main thing is selling the program and the university. And I won't get on my soap box about the university/students because the moderators will kick me off the site.

 

As for Woodard. It won't bother me either way. But, if we do go after a new coach we need to pay up.

 

I think he has done enough to warrant another year. I am very optimistic about our offense heading into next year. I am very concerned about our defense.

Oh, and for attendance: the students will not attend until we recruit a different type of student. And we gave to make the campus life more attractive to that type of student. Students looking for the true college experience don't want live in on campus low income housing.

 

We need to greatly increase our entrance requirements. People want what they can't have. Lamar has a reputation that anyone can get in. Unfortunately I think that is a reality. This is an area where Jimmy Simmons has don't GREAT harm to the University.

 

And non-students? Well we have to win. Most people who enjoy college football are wannabes. They adopt a successful FBS program and act like it is "their" school. Those type of people will be difficult to win back but I think it could happen. Also, from a promotional standpoint we probably could do a WHOLE lot more. There seems to have been a large drop off in tailgating from year one. There is still a lot and it is still a blast but someone needs to be reaching out to the missing tailgaters and ask them what they can do to get them back. If people aren't going to use their tailgating/parking spots I would gladly take a couple!

 

 

This is Woodard's fourth year, first senior class where we are able to compete on an even playing field, he is bringing in good recruits(2 nonredshirt freshman started this year), we have gone toe to toe with the big boys in the FCS all year long, and we are one year away from a winning season and potentially more...

 

All you guys who say we should have been winning now or before now is crazy... Site all the examples you want,, this is beaumont texas....We compete for recruits with McNeese, sFA, and SAM who are all perennial winners.

 

Is it lucky that this year, the fourth year, we are competitive?? Luck has nothing to do with it.. We are about to be a winner with the coach who built the program from zero.

 

Ask SFA and Northwestern ST what they think about their coaches... You guys ever hear them talk? No offense to those guys but i listened to each of them and i was not impressed with their general knowledge and understanding of the game and with their ability to communicate. Say what you want, Woodard understands football. I will take the big ole country boy we got over those guys any day. We have a 'good' man and a 'good' coach right now.. Is any coach perfect? Is any employee or boss or leader perfect?? Perfection doesn't exist.

 

Think that things cant be worse???? Oh yes it can...

 

We should not fire him now, in my opinion. We owe him one more years salary.. Let him earn the salary and make the decision after next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I love how people like to say it is tough to recruit or sell Beaumont. Let's see we compete against: nacogdoches, Huntsville, Houma la, natchitoches(sp), thibodeaux, Conway ar, and lake Charles. Which of those cities is some kind of Mecca? And what about college station or Waco or Lubbock. The city has almost nothing to do with it. The main thing is selling the program and the university. And I won't get on my soap box about the university/students because the moderators will kick me off the site.

 

As for Woodard. It won't bother me either way. But, if we do go after a new coach we need to pay up.

 

I think he has done enough to warrant another year. I am very optimistic about our offense heading into next year. I am very concerned about our defense.

 

Its not the city of Beaumont but the location of Beaumont in relation to SFA, McNeese, and SAM. These schools are close to us and have historically winning programs. We all compete for the same players and the better players typically want to go to the schools that have a history of winning and that are established at a minimum. This is the reason that it takes time for Lamar to improve and why i think it is unreasonable to expect winning seasons in the programs infancy. I am perfectly fine with one more year and then make the decision based on next year's results, however.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well Ray W. as a (Coach coaching his coaches) oh well. Offense, if we lose Coach k. O.C. and stop picking favorite's and go with the best player/s on the field then we can change the losing culture. A coach at the (#1 DIV I football program) says the best players hit the field and that is day in and day out. It's at every practice if showing a lack of effort, there next in line will replace you Fresh/So/Jr you pick everyday is a tryout to become the #1 player at you position, make it fare & fun then you will grab the players you want. The nicest field & filedhouse seems the best in the Southland, yet "Lack of leadership & open minded approach" will keep Lamar in the football dark ages to make players, fans etc... want to be part of this football program somethings need to change"A.S.A.P."

TALENT IS IN PLACE THE JURY IS OUT ON THE REST. >:( ???

I agree, using Beaumont as the reason is an excuse. As for Woodard, my stance is he probably deservrs another year, especially if you consider who would you replace him with? Mack Brown? Really interested on who you think would apply for the position. If we don't give coaches a chance, the good ones will never apply. Second, who is going to payout his contract? I guess we could start a money raising campaign on BRI to do that. What would it take, $150k? So, either put your money where your mouth (post) is, or wqait until his contract expires.

I wouldn't mind seeing OC Coach Kuech go. He didn't use all the talent he had for some reason and in my opinion he definitely cost us the UCA game.

I won't make an argument that KJ is not an offensive threat, but can you really say that he is a better every play receiver than Beggleton or Roberts. Both of those guys have made catches that if we were in a tv game market would make the ESPN highlight reels. Last year it seemed that KJ would not put out a real effort every play especially when it was going to be a running play to the other side of the field. Whatever all has gone on inside the program I will give him credit for maturing and being willing to make the move to defense. To be honest safety and return specialist is probably his best shot at the NFL. The rare times you might want three or four big play wide receivers for a play he is still available.

id like to see the staff have another year.ive been critical of things the last few years but felt we were very organized this year and really like our young talent.maybe fire keuck and bring in a upcoming offensive mind and see what happens.also,give Langston a raise.we actually blocked this year.