Keasler resigns after three losing seasons
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Associated Press
MONROE, La. -- Louisiana-Monroe football coach Bobby Keasler resigned Wednesday after opening his fourth season with three losses.
"This is not a spur-of-the-moment decision on my part and it was a decision that my wife and I made. There was no pressure from anyone at the university,'' Keasler said. "This decision has affected me and my family for quite a while, all the way back to last year.''
UL-Monroe plays Arkansas State this weekend at Monroe.
Keasler took over the Louisiana-Monroe in December 1998. The Indians had not had a winning season since moving to Division I-A in 1994 and counted on Keasler, who had tremendous success at Division I-AA McNeese State, to have success on the higher level. Instead, Louisiana-Monroe went 5-6 his first year and fell to 1-10 the next year and 2-9 last season.
This year the Indians are 0-3, including a 24-19 loss to McNeese State last weekend.
"Bobby came to me and said that he felt it was time to make a move, that a change might energize the program for the rest of the season,'' athletic director Bruce Hanks said. "I know that no one wanted to succeed more, or worked any harder in pursuit of success for this football program, than Bobby Keasler.''
Assistant head coach-defensive coordinator Mike Collins would serve in an interim capacity as head coach through the remainder of the season, Hanks said. Keasler will remain with the athletic department, in an administrative role, through December.
Keasler was 78-34-2 in nine years at McNeese. His combined record at Louisiana-Monroe is 8-28.
At Louisiana-Monroe there were numerous problems, however, including lack of attendance at home games.
Last year the team had 67 players on scholarship. This year it has 76 scholarship players. This is the first year Keasler had the full 105 players allowed.
Tickets sales were up this year. The players joined in a preseason drive to sell tickets. Season ticket sales of 6,258 were the highest ever, school officials said before the season.
Under new NCAA rules, several Division I-A football schools must improve their athletic programs or risk demotion to I-AA in football. That includes attracting home crowds averaging at least 15,000. ULM averaged 7,781 paid attendance in five home games last year.
Louisiana-Monroe has also drawn criticism about its finances, and a study commissioned by the University of Louisiana System, which governs the school, recommended the school drop to a lower division or drop football completely to improve the finances for academics.
Keasler had denied offseason rumors that he would step down, saying he finally had a veteran team and players he had recruited.
A ULM graduate, Keasler served as an assistant coach at his alma mater for nine years, helping lead the Indians to the 1987 I-AA national championship.
He left ULM to become the head coach at McNeese State in 1990 and took the Cowboys to seven I-AA playoff appearances and six nine-win seasons during his tenure there. Keasler earned Southland Conference Coach of the Year honors four times and was the Louisiana Coach of the Year three times.
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Associated Press
MONROE, La. -- Louisiana-Monroe football coach Bobby Keasler resigned Wednesday after opening his fourth season with three losses.
"This is not a spur-of-the-moment decision on my part and it was a decision that my wife and I made. There was no pressure from anyone at the university,'' Keasler said. "This decision has affected me and my family for quite a while, all the way back to last year.''
UL-Monroe plays Arkansas State this weekend at Monroe.
Keasler took over the Louisiana-Monroe in December 1998. The Indians had not had a winning season since moving to Division I-A in 1994 and counted on Keasler, who had tremendous success at Division I-AA McNeese State, to have success on the higher level. Instead, Louisiana-Monroe went 5-6 his first year and fell to 1-10 the next year and 2-9 last season.
This year the Indians are 0-3, including a 24-19 loss to McNeese State last weekend.
"Bobby came to me and said that he felt it was time to make a move, that a change might energize the program for the rest of the season,'' athletic director Bruce Hanks said. "I know that no one wanted to succeed more, or worked any harder in pursuit of success for this football program, than Bobby Keasler.''
Assistant head coach-defensive coordinator Mike Collins would serve in an interim capacity as head coach through the remainder of the season, Hanks said. Keasler will remain with the athletic department, in an administrative role, through December.
Keasler was 78-34-2 in nine years at McNeese. His combined record at Louisiana-Monroe is 8-28.
At Louisiana-Monroe there were numerous problems, however, including lack of attendance at home games.
Last year the team had 67 players on scholarship. This year it has 76 scholarship players. This is the first year Keasler had the full 105 players allowed.
Tickets sales were up this year. The players joined in a preseason drive to sell tickets. Season ticket sales of 6,258 were the highest ever, school officials said before the season.
Under new NCAA rules, several Division I-A football schools must improve their athletic programs or risk demotion to I-AA in football. That includes attracting home crowds averaging at least 15,000. ULM averaged 7,781 paid attendance in five home games last year.
Louisiana-Monroe has also drawn criticism about its finances, and a study commissioned by the University of Louisiana System, which governs the school, recommended the school drop to a lower division or drop football completely to improve the finances for academics.
Keasler had denied offseason rumors that he would step down, saying he finally had a veteran team and players he had recruited.
A ULM graduate, Keasler served as an assistant coach at his alma mater for nine years, helping lead the Indians to the 1987 I-AA national championship.
He left ULM to become the head coach at McNeese State in 1990 and took the Cowboys to seven I-AA playoff appearances and six nine-win seasons during his tenure there. Keasler earned Southland Conference Coach of the Year honors four times and was the Louisiana Coach of the Year three times.
