Anytime you win a conference championship, you immediately have a target on your back.
If you ask the players for the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns, they embrace that.
One of the biggest messages to take away from today’s Media Day held at Russo Park was that this team will play with a chip on their shoulder. However, the first offseason in the Michael Desormeaux era was a success.
A lot of things have stayed very similar from when Billy Napier turned this Cajun program around, but the biggest change? Desormeaux says that his team will pay even more attention to detail, saying the team motto for 2022 is “the difference is in the details”.
“We have a team that gets that. You’ve got a great mixture of older veterans who understand that and understand that process is really important to the outcome, and then you’ve got young guys who are itching for their chance to get out there and go play” said Desormeaux.
The quarterback battle is going to be the area watched the closest from the fans and media, as Chandler Fields and Ben Woolridge are running a tight race. Offensive Coordinator Tim Leger spent a lot of his time with the media fielding questions about that battle.
“I do think their skill set will lend to featuring some of the other parts of the offense a little better, specifically my room,” Leger, also the wide receiver coach, said. “But we’re going to do what it takes to win football games. If that means, throwing it 50 times, then we’ll do that. If it means running it 50 times, we’re going to do that. We don’t care how it looks or how people feel about it. The important thing for us is at the end of the day, we win football games.”
Louisiana will play Southeastern Louisiana on September 3rd at Cajun Field to open the season, and players feel like this new coaching staff will have them ready to play.
“Coach Des has given us more time to hone in on our skill sets. Our bodies have been way healthier throughout this offseason — definitely fewer soft-tissue injuries with the running. I think we’re ready to go. I think coach Des is going to have us at top speed come the first game.” said quarterback Chandler Fields.