After going through the bitterness of former softball coach Michael Lotief’s controversial dismissal in 2017, perhaps the reaction of Gerry Glasco’s shocking departure from UL to Texas Tech last week is relatively tame.
The process of waiting for the athletic department to finish its search for a new head coach, though, isn’t an easy one for Ragin’ Cajun softball fans.
First was the expected first wave of players leaving the program. Catcher Victoria Valdez, pitcher Chloe Riassetto, third baseman Brooke Ellestad, center fielder Mihyia Davis and first baseman Lauren Allred all entered the transfer portal over the weekend.
Meanwhile, some of their former teammates — Maddie Hayden, Laney Credeur and Kayla Falterman — utilized social media to declare the program alive and well.
There’s still no reason to believe most people's No. 1 choice of former Cajun first baseman Alyson Habetz has changed her plans after retiring from coaching last summer.
Past that, athletic director Bryan Maggard knows he has a major decision to make in who will replace Glasco.
Softball has been the athletic department’s most competitive sport on the national level since 1990. Only once since then has the program not played in an NCAA regional.
Glasco’s replacement incredibly will be just the program’s fourth head coach since 1981.
So the search must be a delicate balance of speed and precision.
Maggard nailed it in hiring Glasco seven years ago when it was desperately needed. It may even be more critical to hit the jackpot this time.
Yes, the Cajuns are coming off hosting a regional and the program remains strong, but college athletics are closer to professional sports than ever before.
As surprising as Glasco’s decision to leave UL with virtually his entire team returning, it’s another vivid reminder that college sports is now more about buying players than developing them.
As concerning as the situation is for UL fans, remember that going into the portal doesn’t 100% guarantee the player is leaving — although none of the messages released by the players this weekend seemed to leave much room for changing their minds.
As we continue this outright free agency process in college athletics, hopefully those online messages to the fans end soon. It happens all over the country, and most of the athletes likely mean well.
After all, they didn’t make these new rules. They’re just executing their legal right to exploit them.
But for many of the fans, the messages are a slap in the face.
Certainly, hug your friends on the way out, but the fans don't need to hear consolation words trying to disguise that the athletes love a greater opportunity elsewhere or the departing coach more than the program they are leaving.
If at all possible, the rules governing the transfer portal need to change. The NCAA has gone out of its way to protect the players who want to leave a program when a coach departs, but it sure seems like the players who stay aren’t treated very well.
Those who enter the portal in the bonus 30-day period are suddenly the shiny new toys in the free agency pool with a spotlight on them. The next softball transfer portal period doesn’t begin until Dec. 1.
Sure, UL’s new coaching staff could still acquire any transfer portal leftovers who weren’t scooped up during the first portal period. And while there are certainly some hidden gems out there, it hardly seems like equal treatment.
If the powers that be like this new free agency trend, then don’t change anything.
If the new process seems a bit out of hand, perhaps it’s time for a committee to figure out a way to even the playing field to better protect the programs of the players who stay.