After seven years at the helm, Mark Hudspeth was fired Sunday morning after being soundly defeated by the Mountaineers of Appalachian State. While there’s a number of reasons why the firing happened depending on who you talk to, but here’s a quick timeline of events that led to the firing of Hudspeth straight from Louisiana’s Director of Athletics Dr. Bryan Maggard.
Apathetic Attendance
Along with the inconsistent performance on the field, Maggard mentioned that there was a sense of apathy surrounding the program. The numbers showed just that with about a 20 percent drop in average attendance from the previous season.
While it still put the Cajuns towards the middle of the pack in terms of the Sun Belt Conference, it became clear that the fans weren’t in favor of the current product on the field. It was even more evident during the home finale against Georgia Southern which had an announced attendance of 12,993, but you could clearly tell on the broadcast that the number was significantly less than that.
Timeline of Events:
8 A.M: Judgement Day
After getting some much-needed rest after a long plane ride back from Boone, North Carolina, Maggard called Hudspeth into his office around 8 a.m. to inform him of the decision that thy will move in a different direction.
After he broke the news to Hudspeth, Maggard credited him for being a true professional when it came to taking the news. Even after receiving the news, the former head coach was in good spirits according to the Cajuns Director of Athletics saying that “He came out of the chutes and set the bar really high. He kind of jokingly said that ‘Maybe he should have went 5-7 in his first year’. As a competitor that he is, it’s a reflection of his coaching ability that he can coach at that high level. It certainly raised the bar and expectations of Louisiana football. For that I know he’s very proud of that and I commend him for that.”
8:45 A.M.: Meeting with Coaching Staff
After discussion of how they wanted to handle the situation in terms of telling the team and staff, Hudspeth met with the coaching staff for about 15 minutes to inform them of the decision. Maggard walked in shortly after to discuss what they can expect to happen in the immediate future.
“Our expectation is that while they are employed here is that they will continue their recruiting efforts this month and make sure that we are supporting our student athletes during finals week so that we finish strong.” Maggard said to the media on Sunday. “The assistant coaching staff here is a group of first-class men and I have a great amount of respect for them as individuals and as coaches. Could not be more proud of how they handled a tough day with the news as well.”
He also made the announcement that running backs coach and former Ragin Cajun Michael Desormeaux would be the acting director of the football program and be the point of contact during the transitional period between head coaches.
10 A.M.: Mandatory Team Meeting
After going through the protocol with the coaching staff, Hudspeth and Maggard turned their attention to the student athletes. Hudspeth spoke to the players for about five minutes thanking them for all that they gave to the university and their commitment to the football program.
With finals week for UL Lafayette starting tomorrow, Maggard once again stressed the importance for the student athletes to focus on finals week and finish the fall semester strong. Maggard mentioned that he was “grateful that the holiday season is coming up and the semester break so they can be with their family and get a much needed break.”
Was Georgia Southern the Last Straw?
Looking back at the loss to Georgia Southern in front of what might’ve actually been 5,000 fans in Cajun Field, Maggard alluded to that possibly being the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
“I was evaluating all along and I don’t think any of us expected to drop the Georgia Southern game, our coaches and players included.” Maggard said, “That was an unfortunate game, but I wanted them to finish the season and see how we could do, just as we kind of tapered off on the last part of the season. The inconsistent play throughout just solidified the position.”
-Clint Domingue