Long way back

By Jim Gazzolo | JGMedia

Maybe it started when Matt Viator left the program for Louisiana-Monroe after the 2015 season.

Maybe it started when the program went on academic probation, and 28 of its best players transferred out at the end of 2019.

Maybe the storms of 2020 left the program needing to rebuild its facilities and roster at the same time.

Or maybe it was all of the above.

We can argue the reasons and make excuses, but nobody outside Lake Charles cares. The McNeese football program's history is too rich to suffer this long. 

The Cowboys have a proud tradition, one built on winning big games and championships in front of huge crowds. Everyone wants those days back.

It is why Viator came out of retirement: to bring back those glory days and return McNeese football to its rightful place above the Southland Conference. 

While there have been signs of improvement in his two seasons back, they have been baby steps. There has been no giant turnaround.

While it takes time to rebuild the depths the program was in just three years ago, when it finished 1-10 with the only win coming by forfeit, we still don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.

This year’s club, for example, has stumbled after it looked poised to turn things around. Too much week-to-week inconsistency leaves fans wondering where this program stands right now.

Here are the facts: McNeese is 3-5 and needs to run the table to post its first winning season since 2019. The Cowboys did finish 6-6 in 2014. Last year the Pokes were 5-7.

While neither season was a disaster like 1-11 in 2013, when the program bottomed out, more belief followed last year’s finish, when McNeese won four of its last six, that the corner had been turned than there is right now.

Another troubling fact: the Cowboys haven’t made the playoffs since Viator’s 2015 squad and haven’t won a postseason game since 2002. That’s 24 years and counting.

McNeese should be better than that.

“It is befuddling,” Viator admitted about this season’s up-and-down performances, which is much like the rest of the last decade. “I wish I knew the reasoning because I would get it fixed.”

“I have to do a better job as a head coach. Ultimately, it is on me.” 

There is more than enough blame to go around, however. Since the double hurricanes of 2020, the Cowboys are just 26-46 and 17-30 in the Southland. 

It is time to take a good, hard look at what is going on if this program is to move forward. It can’t be as simple as the rest of FCS is passing them by.

McNeese has too much history for that.