I get it. It’s the sexy question surrounding the McNeese State football program.

Just who will be the quarterback?

Over the past three seasons or so it hasn’t been an issue. The job was one man’s and one man’s alone.

For better or worse the Cowboys rode with Cody Orgeron.

As everything around him crumbled, Orgeron stood tall. His loyalty and pride overshadowed his skills and helped keep the program alive.

Now, a Orgeron’s eligibility finally was all used up and Gary Goff opens spring camp, everybody wants to know who will be the new McNeese QB.

There are six quarterbacks in camp as the Goff era begins, none of them with much experience at McNeese, so the grading scale for this spring will likely be done on a curve.

Still, fans expect that magically one of these guys will learn a new system and become the alpha dog over the next month, as if that is the time frame for a decision to be made. It’s not.

This is the start of a process that will likely last at least into if not for most of fall camp.

What is important is not that Goff makes a quick decision but rather the right decision.

“I know what it looks like when we have the right guy, but I know what it looks like when we don’t,” Goff said when talking about his offense.

In simpler terms: Goff has time on his side.

Naming a quarterback sooner is what the fans want. They then have somebody to rally around.

Naming a quarterback later is what the Cowboys need. They need the right guy.

When you take a deep look at the quarterback room you find a lot of options.

There is the talented transfer from Virginia Tech, the Kentucky transfer who moved to wide receiver last season and, of course, last year’s backup.

There is also a pair of talented redshirt freshmen who never really got a chance to play last season even when the battle was lost and it would seem to have made sense.

All bring different skills and value to the roster.

If the fans had their way they would love to see the local kid Dillon Simon get a chance. He is a dynamite athlete who was a star at Lake Charles College Prep.

Whether Simon is a starting quarterback or somebody who needs to be in special packages to take advantage of his speed and talent will need to be figured out. He should, however, be in the conversation and get a look.

So this is not just a situation in which Goff should be set to turn over the keys to his program. Again, time is on his side.

Also, this is not a program one player away from greatness. Finding a quarterback is important but there is more work to do than just that.

This is a team that needs to develop an offensive line, find depth in the secondary and come up with playmakers on both sides of the ball. The right quarterback is not the magic bullet to reclaim past glory but rather a cornerstone to build around.

Before Goff can top his tree with a start at QB he has to find the foundation on which he can hang his other ornaments. Right now he’s just putting together the stand.

Then again, we are a long way from Christmas so Goff and his staff have time to build this thing right before all the lights and tinsel need to be added.

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Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese State athletics for the American Press. Email him at jimgazzolo@yahoo.com