To the rest of college football, McNeese State’s home is known as Cowboy Stadium.

To Cowboy players and their faithful, it is passionately called “The Hole” for its unique design.

Open in 1965, The Hole has lived through hurricanes, floods, and a historic freeze. Yet the stadium still stands as a symbol of pride for the area and university. 

Like all 60-year-olds, there are some wrinkles but they just add personality to the old boy. 

Despite all the punches, Cowboy Stadium is set to open its 60th season Saturday night when Southern comes calling. 

And the old Hole is getting a facelift, as the $31M new pressbox rises above the west stands. Parts of it will be open for the upcoming game just four years and four days after Hurricane Laura destroyed its predecessor. 

For some, it will symbolize the area’s rebirth after the disaster, but for those who wear a McNeese uniform, The Hole is simply a place they love to call home and hold close to their hearts.

“I still think about those Saturday night home games,” said former Cowboy Kip Texada. “It was so exciting. I loved it; still love The Hole.”

Texada does radio for McNeese games and has seen a lot over the years. One thing hasn’t changed though, how much it continues to draw attention.

“It’s Saturday night, it’s the town, it’s the people,” Texada said. “They know who you are. Before the game, after the game, fans come up and talk to you. It is a big family party.”

McNeese also wins at home. The Cowboys are 221-106-5 playing on what is now named Louis Bonnette Field in honor of the long-time Sports Information Directory.

“Other teams would be overwhelmed when they came here,” said former McNeese head coach Matt Viator. “It was a big advantage when we played here. Even the better teams and bigger players had some trouble with the atmosphere.”

The stadium has hosted some big-name opponents for sure. NFL Hall-of-Famers like Roger Staubach, Kurt Warner, and Louisiana’s native son Terry Bradshaw are just a few headliners.

But it is the Cowboys themselves who have the greatest of memories.

“You come out and see all the people on the hill and in the stands, then you walk down those stairs and look up, it is special,” said Kerry Joseph, who quarterbacked McNeese in the 1990s and is now the quarterbacks coach with the Chicago Bears.

“It is a special place,” Joseph continued. “The crowd, the energy level. Your energy goes from 100 to 200 percent in a heartbeat.”

Joseph returned to coach the Cowboys as the offensive coordinator a few years back as well. 

“It was just a big hometown feeling you got,” Joseph said. “You just knew on Saturday night the crowd would be wild and they would be sitting on the hill as you came out ready for you. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

It wasn’t just players that enjoyed the atmosphere. Viator, who led the program for 10 seasons after being an assistant, learned firsthand of the Hole while coaching Sulphur High.

He went to a playoff game when the Cowboys upended highly-ranked and favored Delaware back in 1997.

“They were overwhelmed,” Viator said of the Blue Hens. “The crowd, the setting, it just overwhelmed them. It was too much for them. It was incredible.”

Viator got to see Doug Williams up close as an assistant in 2002, the season of McNeese’s last playoff victory. Williams was coaching his first game at Grambling and the former NFL star came in with all the hype.

“To see him come down the ramp, surrounded by all those state troopers, and how our fans reacted, it was wild.,” Viator said. “He was a rock star and the crowd didn’t miss a beat.”

Jerry Glanville, the former NFL coach of both Atlanta and Houston, got the same treatment when he brought Portland State to town to open 2007. 

“Our fans just love football,” Viator said. “It was great to see.”

McNeese hopes that Saturday’s opener of the 60th home season in The Hole brings back those feelings. 

“You win and the fans will come,” said Texada. “That I know.”

McNeese has been doing that in Cowboy Stadium since it opened in 1965. 

 

Some big names who played at Cowboy Stadium

Roger Staubach (Pensacola Navy, 1968)

Terry Bradshaw (Louisiana Tech, 1967 and 1969)

Fred Dean (Louisiana Tech, 1971 and 1973)

Kurt Warner (Northern Iowa, 1992),

Mike Tomlin (William & Mary, 1993),

Chad Pennington (Marshall, 1995)

Daunte Culpepper (Central Florida, 1995)

Malcolm Butler (West Alabama, 2013)