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I’ve heard Jeremiah Johnson didn’t move his family to Ruston from Iowa. Doesn’t sound like a guy who thinks this is for a multiple number of years.

Can’t imagine why… 🫢

In an effort to ramp up the competition in the RB room, La Tech will sign two RBs in the 2021 class.

Ke'Travion Hargrove is currently committed, so Tech is on the prowl for one more player to put in its backfield entering 2021.

Jarquez Hunter is a target that would be a big time get.

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Hunter currently holds offers from Louisiana Tech, Ole Miss, Tennessee, South Alabama, Southern Miss, and Vanderbilt.

I spoke to Hunter last week, and he told me that Tech is one of the top contenders for his services.

He raved about his relationship with the coaching staff, saying, "I love the coaching staff at Louisiana Tech, there is just something about those guys, they make me feel like family. They talk to me like I'm a member of their family."

Hunter would obviously be a huge grab, as he's currently ranked as the 22nd ranked RB in the country.

Hunter told me that he plans to use one of his five official visits to Tech.

Tennessee has 3 RBs committed, so we can probably cross them off the list. It may come down to a battle between Tech, Vandy, and Ole Miss. A lot of it could depend on where he fits on the Ole Miss and Vandy RB boards.

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Has Tech at 4.8 wins.

Head coach: Sonny Cumbie (third year, 6-18 overall)

2024 projection: 122nd in SP+, 4.8 average wins (3.3 in CUSA)

I guess there are two ways to look at Louisiana Tech's 2023 performance.

INLINE: Special - Louisiana Tech SP+ Bill Connelly
On one hand, the Bulldogs extended a dire stretch that has seen four of their five worst performances since 2008. On the other hand, they fielded their best team in three years!

After Tech collapsed from 10-3 in 2019 to 3-9 in 2021, Skip Holtz was fired, freeing him to fulfill his destiny as a USFL head coach. The Bulldogs have gone 3-9 twice more under former TCU and Texas Tech offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie, and if there has been recent improvement, it's obviously meager. The defense improved in 2023 (well, it got slightly less bad), and the special teams unit was legitimately solid. But the offense, with its fifth different leading passer in five years, continued to struggle for consistency.

With Hank Bachmeier's departure, we'll see yet another new leading passer, be it junior Jack Turner (1,017 yards in 2023), redshirt freshman Evan Bullock or former Southern Miss QB Ty Keyes. With Marquis Crosby (918 yards in 2022) returning from injury and a number of speedy transfers coming aboard -- running back Donerio Davenport (Texas State), receivers Jeremiah Ballard (UTEP), Jimmy Holiday (WKU) and Abdul-Fatai Ibrahim (Bowling Green) -- the skill corps could be quite a bit better. The line lost three starters but added three (from ULM, Grambling and Stephen F. Austin) from the portal.

On defense, transfers will dictate how much improvement is possible. Returning linemen Mykol Clark and Zion Nason are solid up front, but the secondary lost its two best DBs, and some combination of 2023 backups (namely, intriguing sophomore Jhamal Shelby Jr.), transfers Pig Cage (UTSA) and Blake Thompson (Iowa State) and four JUCOs will have to produce. Linebacker transfers CJ Harris (Kent State) and Sifa Leota(North Texas) should be keepers, at least.

My favorite player: RB Marquis Crosby. He missed almost all of 2023 with injury, but he was a talisman in 2022. In the six games in which he averaged over 5.0 yards per carry that year, Tech went 3-3 and averaged 39.2 points per game. The other six games: 0-6 and 18.8 PPG.

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We had the entire Dunkin’ Dog team over today at the Russell house and farm.

They got to pet some miniature horses, long horn steers, and Scottish highland cattle. I think Batcho even got a picture on one of the dwarf miniature horses lol

I was really impressed that the entire team showed up. You could tell they are a “together” group. I was also impressed with how polite and nice the entire group was - coaches, players, staff, and players families. It was also impressive how many burgers these dudes put down! I’m talking about 4 burgers on the first pass through lol

All in all it was a great day! Batcho and his family were the last to leave. He even hopped in the pool at one point. This is after he put super 1 bags on his shoes when he was walking around the farm lol Jordan Crawford was the most prepared in ariat boots but that’s what you’d expect from a simsboro tiger!

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Anytime I interacted with Ed he was a class act. What a loss. Prayers for his family.

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“I think they understand that we got to be able to now perform on the competition surface. I hate to sit here and tell you it’s bowl game or bust because I don’t know that would quite be the case. I think we’re going to have to look at it from a holistic aspect and how to go from there. I am confident, and I said this on the radio on Friday, I think we can win seven games this year. I think our schedule sets up well for us. I think we’ve got good energy like I said earlier around our program. I think the guys believe in who they are. I think we can get there; I really do.”

Section 2.1 of this agreement is hereby amended to be for the period from March 28, 2022, through April 30, 2029. Section 11.2 of the agreement is hereby amended to read as follows: In the event Coach terminates the agreement without cause, he will be liable to the Foundation for the following amounts due within thirty days of termination:

If on or before April 30, 2025, Coach shall be liable to the Foundation for liquidated damages of $850,000.
If on or before April 30, 2026, Coach shall be liable to the Foundation for liquidated damages of $635,000.
If on or before April 30, 2027, Coach shall be liable to the Foundation for liquidated damages of $425,000.
If on or before April 30, 2028, Coach shall be liable to the Foundation for liquidated damages of $215,000.
If on or before April 30, 2029, Coach shall be liable to the Foundation for liquidated damages of $100,000.

All other terms of the agreement are unaffected and shall continue in full force and effect, and his base salary remains at $130,000. If there is a conflict between this amendment and the agreement, the terms of this amendment will prevail.