I would argue that you have the same thing everywhere. I played with guys that transfered from W. Ouachita and they said there were boosters there who thought they were coaches. We all know that everyone in West Monroe thinks they know everything because they have a kid who attended elementary with a kid who rode the bench for Coach Shows. They are everywhere and you just notice them in Ruston if you lived here or still live here.
Just do what I do. Make sure you let people know that just because you went to Ruston and I didn't doesn't make me different, it just makes you a moron. At least I feel better.
I'm not going to name them specifically but I can tell you there was interest from highly qualified coordinators and hc's from south la and east tx. Also there were several who had college experience as well. RHS is and always will be a highly regarded job among the HS ranks.
Actually I am not one of those parents,but I do agree with the comment made by Bluecrew. I am not questioning coach Laird as a person,and will not loose any sleep about it one way or another. I do,however,expect to continue to see the same results we have been seeing.
I'm not a parent at all... I am a former Bearcat that went from Childress to Gillum. laird is a good guy... But football has passed him by. These kids today don't respond to a 68 year old coach. Our program needs to change. If he is willing to change great. But the lack of communication between jr high/ high school coaches is bad. The kids playing YMCA and pop Warner in west monroe are running basic west Monroe plays. The coaches go to w Monroe coaching clinics... You can have that kind of commitment and mow yards at 3 pm... And the Shreveport mindset of " hey we made the play offs" wears me out!
Since you're comparing RHS to WM, isn't Shows about the same age? RHS is not WM. They have 3-4 feeder schools. Ruston has one. They are also over 2x larger than Ruston. Some RHS football fans remind me of Lady Techster fans.....living in the past. This isn't the 80's anymore.
The Bearcats played in the Dome in '98 and made it to the semifinals in '99, losing to West Monroe both years. That's not the '80s, that's about a dozen years ago. Ruston made the 5A quarterfinals about five years ago, too. There's still talent that walks those halls. Is it on par with the depth of talent at West Monroe? No, but not many schools have that. Ruston can still compete.
the bold, the beautiful, theprofessor
Let me preface this by saying I am NOT advocating for Laird to be fired, not at ALL:
However, 6-5 with zero wins over teams that finished more than one game over .500, losses to mediocre Byrd and Sulphur teams, and a loss in the first round of the playoffs is what I consider a very disappointing season.
the bold, the beautiful, theprofessor
And I would bet there was none more disappointed than the coaches. For the people that claim that Ruston has tons of talent walking the halls, where is it? I mean honestly, I keep up with local athletics, and how many colleges are knocking the doors down to get recruits at RHS these days?
That's the point, there is plenty of young talent at RHS it just doesn't get any better. I promise you if Brad Bradshaw would have been at RHS the last 15 years his record would be a lot closer to what it was at Bastrop than what Laird's record is at RHS. You can't tell me that WMHS and BHS sucked for the better part of 40 years and all of a sudden the talent just magically appeared. In high school 90 percent is coaching, and by coaching I mean everything (getting the kids to play FB, strength and conditioning, etc.) For what ever reason, Billy Laird has been very average at RHS and it is time for him to move on.
Travis Boney