Many of us Cajun fans (including myself) have been hard on Coach Jessie Evans not only this year but in years past, many outsiders and fellow Cajun fans sometimes wonder why. In 7 years as head coach here his record is 132-80 including 80-32 in conference play. So what the hell is the problem? Cajuns fans have great expectations for our program. The question Cajun fans have to now ask themself, is 2 SBC championships in 7 years good enough? that answer is up to each individual fan. For SBC outsiders reading this let me give an example. Let's say UNT Coach Dickey wins the SBC title 3 times in 7 years and goes to the New Orleans Bowl and wins 1 out of 3. Also during those 7 years he has an overall winning record. Is that good enough? Should the school be thankful for the success or should they replace Dickey with someone who can "hopefully" take the program to a higher level. No follower of our program can question the winning record Evans has had here. Or can it be questioned that he has brought in some great talent. The problem I think most fans have had with Evans teams have been discipline both on the court and in the classroom. This season more than any other before Evans has seemed more focused on discipline. This years team has been a true team in every since of the word. Have they made mistakes? sure, but overall the passing and defense have been better than anytime in Evans career here. Is this because of coaching or the type of unselfish players we have? I would have to say a little of both. Credit must b given where it is due and Evans has this team believing in the "team" concept. But these players are also unselfish by nature or they could not play as well as they do. Classroom discipline is not a problem unique to only our program but I don't care about other programs and to use that as an excuse is very weak. I would like to see more of Evans benching players who do not go to class (like he did Boyd that 1 game) and much less of us having 2 to 5 players ineligible at the beginning of each season. Another problem has been Evans reported reluctance to help with fund raising, at schools like ours that is a huge problem. The whole situation with his son on the team a few years ago was a complete mess. After 7 years I think Evans has grown as a head coach ( I know he supports the other programs as I have seen him at more than 1 football game) and now finally has "started" to be tougher on the players. I personally would like to see him a little tougher (see Coach Bustle on how to deal with problems i.e Nick Dugas, Joe Scott and George Benson). Whether his contract is renewed or not is not my call. People who get paid a lot more than me make those calls. Perhaps winning the conference will earn him a new deal or perhaps he wishes to move on to bigger and better. I am very proud of this years team and happy for the players and coaches that they have succeded in reaching their goal and have a chance to go even further. I remember when Coach Fletcher left and what the program was like then. Either way it goes with Jessie our program is better now than when he took over.

Two words- assistant coach. Particularly our newest- Jimmy Williams. I've been watching him all season, and my personal opinion is he is the muscle around there when it comes to enforcement of the rules. I really like this guy and think he deserves quite a bit of credit for the success of this team. Very impressed with him.

CajunKate Wrote:Two words- assistant coach.  Particularly our newest- Jimmy Williams.  I've been watching him all season, and my personal opinion is he is the muscle around there when it comes to enforcement of the rules.  I really like this guy and think he deserves quite a bit of credit for the success of this team.  Very impressed with him.

You know part of being a good leader is knowing your strengths and weaknesses, surrounding yourself with good people and people that compliment those strengths and weaknesses. I hope Coach Williams is that "compliment" we have been looking for as he appears to be. Our teams have been so talented which is another reason for such high expectations and severe disappointment. It is not enough to be able to get the talent and know the X's and O's on the floor but also have someone regardless of whether it is the head coach or assistant coach be the "bad guy" when the need arise.

If we fire him it will be a big mistake, b/c we can't find another coach to put up as many wins as he did with the money we're going to offer the new coach. I say stick with Jesse b/c he finds ways to get the wins.

[quote="SwampHound"] [quote="CajunKate"] Two words- assistant coach.

studentfan Wrote:If we fire him it will be a big mistake, b/c we can't find another coach to put up as many wins as he did with the money we're going to offer the new coach. I say stick with Jesse b/c he finds ways to get the wins.

I don't think he would be fired so to say maybe not have his contract renewed but I really do not see that happening now. In so far as the wins and losses that is what I meant about each fan has their own opinion of what is good enough for a coach to keep his job.

SwampHound Wrote:

studentfan Wrote:If we fire him it will be a big mistake, b/c we can't find another coach to put up as many wins as he did with the money we're going to offer the new coach.  I say stick with Jesse b/c he finds ways to get the wins.

I don't think he would be fired so to say maybe not have his contract renewed but I really do not see that happening now. In so far as the wins and losses that is what I meant about each fan has their own opinion of what is good enough for a coach to keep his job.

If he wins and puts fans in the CajunDome that's good enough for me. I think we would have to start all over if we got a new coach and that's something some people do not want to see right now.