Jim Gazzolo column: Future is now for Cowboys

Published 10:31 am Thursday, December 9, 2021

The Frank Wilson era at McNeese State never had an honest chance.

If not a victim of hurricanes it was one of circumstances.

There is no way to put a finger on one thing, for there were so many.

Wilson was like a guy on the beach trying to build a sand castle. Each time he got close to finishing, it seemed as if another wave came crashing in and he had to start over again.

That’s what happens when you finally beat Incarnate Word but lose at home to Northwestern State a month later.

Now comes the hard part: putting the pieces back together once more.

McNeese Athletic Director Heath Schroyer proclaims the Cowboys job is an “elite” one nationally. He says the program is “elite” as well.

Fact is, it once was. Now McNeese football is stuck in limbo, trying to climb out.

Truth be told, elite programs don’t go 20 years without a playoff victory. Elite programs don’t go six years without a playoff appearance.

McNeese may have been elite in the past, it may well be again in the future, but right now it is in the middle of the pack when it comes to the Football Championship Subdivision, and that isn’t good enough.

The pressure is clearly on Schroyer to come up with the right guy to make it elite once more.

“It is on me, period,” Schroyer said.

Proclaiming the buck stops with him, Schroyer is once again the center of attention. The man who brokered the deal to save the Southland Conference now must find a coach to save McNeese football from being irrelevant.

And his boss knows just how important this hire is.

“We have to get this right and we know it,” said McNeese President Dr. Daryl Burckel, who played linebacker for the Cowboys (1978-80) and played in the Independence Bowl. “In the history of McNeese football this might well be the most important hire ever. We can’t mess this up.”

Not after the last six years. This is the fourth time in that stretch McNeese is looking for a new coach.

After Matt Viator’s decade of calm we have the Cowboys going through a major period of turmoil. Some of that is because of circumstances out of their control, others are self-inflicted.

Now they must find stability if they are to go where they claim their future is — college football’s Bowl Subdivision. That seems like miles away right now.

“It is important that we make McNeese State football elite once again,” Burckel said. “It has been in the past. It was a program known and respected nationally. We have to get back to those days.”

And they must do it before it’s too late.

“I know how important McNeese football is to this community and what it means to our fans,” Schroyer said. “I know our fans are interested and our watching. I know I have to get this right and the program back rolling again.”

There is a lot going on right now with the McNeese

football program. New facilities, new press box and new hope.

And now another new coach.

Of course, none of that matters if Schroyer doesn’t get the right guy to fix what has gone wrong.

If not, we could be right back to this spot sooner rather than later.

And that just can’t happen.

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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