There’s a certain euphoria that comes with getting a brand-new head coach.

It’s like the first day of fall training camp for football teams. Everyone is undefeated, optimism is in the air.

People didn’t like some of what I had to say last week about the hire of new McNeese State head coach Sterlin Gilbert. More specifically, some people really didn’t like who I cited in my column and story. That’s fine, I understand not everyone will like what I say.

I believe Gilbert will give the offense a big boost. I mean, he better. That’s one of the main reasons he was hired. But almost as important as his work with the offense is his need to get the defensive coordinator right.

It seems obvious, right?

But everyone is in a big excitement to see the new offense, and I’m afraid people will forget just how good of a job Lance Guidry did with the defense while he doubled as defensive coordinator. Despite how bad the offense was last season, I felt like McNeese had a chance in every game because of the defense and, to a certain extent, the special teams.

If the defensive coordinator hire is not a good one, we will certainly see exciting football. But that gift could also wind up being a curse. You may not see many of the 17-10 wins over Nicholls State anymore. Those might instead be replaced by 41-38 scores. Whether that’s in a winning or losing effort, who knows? But you don’t want to see the 2019 McNeese Cowboys resemble the 2018 Northwestern Demons: a team that scores a ton but gives up even more most of the time.

I honestly think that Guidry would be the perfect defensive coordinator for next year’s team. He could control the defense and not have to worry about dealing with all of the issues a head coach has to deal with. But that isn’t going to happen.

What Guidry did do was leave a pretty full cupboard of defensive talent for the next defensive staff to work with. The defensive line doesn’t lose much, and there were so many injuries up front that young players got invaluable experience last season. The defensive backs did not lose any players of significant consequence to graduation. The biggest question mark will be linebackers, where All-American B.J. Blunt and two others are gone to graduation.

Of course, my projections for the defensive line and secondary assume that there is no attrition due to transfers. This is another area where the defensive coordinator has to be a solid hire. If it’s not, some kids may think it suits them better to find another school to play at. The new guy needs to run a defense that fits the athletes who are here, which are plenty.

McNeese also needs a guy who can get out and recruit well. Since Gilbert has been hired, two recruits on the defensive side of the ball have decommitted. That’s really not Gilbert’s fault; it’s just something that happens when coaching changes are made. But if they’re going to lose players who were meant to be coming to McNeese, they better make sure they find some quality players — whether in high school or in the junior college and Football Bowl Subdivision transfer ranks — to come in.

Let’s not mince words: Gilbert needs to win in 2019. I can’t imagine that another six-win season will be received favorably. You can’t compete for a playoff berth or conference title without being — at the very worst — sound in all three phases. Maybe great in one or two phases and average at the other, but a bad offense, defense, or special teams will get McNeese right where it was during the 2018 playoffs: watching on television.

How do you or I determine a good defensive coordinator hire? The first and most obvious place to look is the numbers. Then you have to go to social media and media that covered the school where he worked prior to McNeese.

You also have to look at context. How did his defense do against the better competition on the schedule? Yes, his defense may not allow many points per game, but if they dropped the ball against elite opponents, that should be concerning.

I have no idea who Gilbert will hire as defensive coordinator. But I feel the need to make sure Cowboys fans aren’t in such a rush to see the new offense that they forget that the Defense With Attitude has carried the Cowboys a lot.

Gilbert can’t let the DWA go MIA.

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David Berry covers McNeese State athletics. Email him at dberry@americanpress.comMcNeese Defense