More important than football, Cowboys look to help schools affected by Ida

Published 9:48 am Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Frank Wilson’s mind was once again on more important things than football.

Just days away from finally getting to play a fall opener, the McNeese State head coach again was distracted by bigger things.

Wilson spent a good portion of his first weekly fall press conference Monday answering questions about hurricanes. It is something he is all too familiar with after last year.

“We have been on the other side unfortunately,” Wilson said. “We know what they are going through.”

Four of McNeese’s opponents were in a direct line with Hurricane Ida, which pounded Southeast Louisiana Sunday and into early Monday morning.

Ida came just a year and two days after another category 4 storm, Laura, devastated Lake Charles and the surrounding area. McNeese took a severe blow. Both the community and university have yet to recover.

“It is tough watching,” said Wilson. “We were there just a year ago. We know what it is like.”

Wilson said the program will look to help out those schools any way possible, repaying what was done for the Cowboys last year.

“Right now they are assessing the damage I’m sure,” said Wilson. “We will reach out to them. In our greatest time of need they were there for us. We will do the same.”

Wilson, who is from the New Orleans area and coached at LSU and played at Nicholls, said he will be in touch with all the coaches effected by the storm.

“I’ll let them know we are here if they need anything,” said Wilson. “We will do what we can for them.”

Southland Conference opponents Nicholls and Southeastern Louisiana account for three of Cowboys’ games this fall. They also play in backto-back weeks at LSU and Southern starting Sept. 11.

It is too early to say if those games will be affected by Ida.

Personally, Wilson had to deal with having family still in the area but said they got out before the storm. As for his players, more than a few whom come from the area, Wilson said some suffered damage but as of yet nothing catastrophic was reported to him.

“It is hard having to cope with these things,” said Wilson, who had to be a crisis manager last year during both hurricanes Laura and Delta.

Cowboy Stadium is still a work in progress a year after those storms hit. There are no lights, forcing games to start at noon just like in the spring, and the press box still can’t be used.

Wilson said they kept the players around Sunday despite giving them the day off. Even with all that, Wilson said he’s ready to play defending Division II national champion West Florida Saturday.

“We are excited to be back playing in the fall,” Wilson said. “We are looking forward to being in front of our fans and getting back to doing what we love to do.”

The Argonauts, in just their fifth season of football, have become a national power on their level.

“This team is as good as any FCS team around,” said Wilson. “It will be a great challenge for us.”

After that McNeese will play in Baton Rouge the following two Saturdays if all goes as planned.