Coastal or SELA?

[Thumper250]

Alright, opinion time:

Coastal Carolina and Southeast Louisiana are both going into their third season as I-AA football programs - at least the second time around for SELA.

Now, judging these two as startups - since it had been over 20 years since SELA had a team, who's in the best shape currently of the two?

I happened to see both play at Gardner-Webb last season and just based on the fact that G-W hammered SELA in the final game and Coastal topped G-W earlier in the year you'd think that CCU was the better squad.

Looking at talent, Southeast seemed to have the edge. Their front seven was absolutely huge, just didn't seem very motivated in Boiling Springs. Coastal was fired up.

Coaching wise, I'd give the edge to the Thundering Beach Chickens for sure. Yes, Bennett over Mumme. Motivation over style.

Talent wise, Southeast. They had/have some true I-A talent at several positions.

Program wise, I guess we'll see this year. Both play comparable schedules.

Any thoughts?

[McNeese75]

Alright, opinion time:

Coastal Carolina and Southeast Louisiana are both going into their third season as I-AA football programs - at least the second time around for SELA.

Now, judging these two as startups - since it had been over 20 years since SELA had a team, who's in the best shape currently of the two?

I happened to see both play at Gardner-Webb last season and just based on the fact that G-W hammered SELA in the final game and Coastal topped G-W earlier in the year you'd think that CCU was the better squad.

Looking at talent, Southeast seemed to have the edge. Their front seven was absolutely huge, just didn't seem very motivated in Boiling Springs. Coastal was fired up.

Coaching wise, I'd give the edge to the Thundering Beach Chickens for sure. Yes, Bennett over Mumme. Motivation over style.

Talent wise, Southeast. They had/have some true I-A talent at several positions.

Program wise, I guess we'll see this year. Both play comparable schedules.

Any thoughts?

Hal Mumme is no longer the coach at SELA.

[Thumper250]

I'm aware that Mumme left, but SELA hasn't played a game yet under Roland.

[TheValleyRaider]

SELA also has the advantage of jumping into the Southland this year. While they may or may not be competitive every week with the conference schedule, the possibility exists that they could win the conference, and therefore make the playoffs. While Coastal is a member of the Big South, a comparison of the two conferences makes SELA look better by association, and probably better off in the long run. Sort of like UConn being able to make the jump to I-A because they already had membership in the Big East waiting for them, rather than joining the MAC or Sun Belt. Of course, CCU could end up in the SoCon in a few years, which then changes things.

[rokamortis]

SELA certainly is a good program - but I am concerned that they may have troubles this year with a new coach and the departure of their star QB. If they can overcome these problems then they should get the nod over CCU.

[GeauxLions94]

I happened to see both play at Gardner-Webb last season and just based on the fact that G-W hammered SELA in the final game and Coastal topped G-W earlier in the year you'd think that CCU was the better squad.

Looking at talent, Southeast seemed to have the edge. Their front seven was absolutely huge, just didn't seem very motivated in Boiling Springs. Coastal was fired up.

Coaching wise, I'd give the edge to the Thundering Beach Chickens for sure. Yes, Bennett over Mumme. Motivation over style.

Talent wise, Southeast. They had/have some true I-A talent at several positions.

Program wise, I guess we'll see this year. Both play comparable schedules.

Any thoughts?

Can't fault you on anything you said. Yep, we were completely hammered when we came up to Boiling Springs at the end of the season. There were a few games during the year in which we were ill-prepared (losses to GW, Alcorn State are the prime examples along with MVSU).

I haven't seen CCU play, but they seem to be a very well-coached team under Bennett. Mumme was too concerned in running up the numbers and making sure he would get in the NCAA record books.

Things have definitely changed since Hal took his traveling road show to Las Cruces. Dennis Roland is a first-class coach and demands a maximum effort from his team and coaching staff. Practices are hard-hitting where Mumme's was like being at a country club (BTW, this is not a rip on Hal ... we're in much better shape having him as coach for the first two seasons).

Talent-wise, I can't compare since I haven't seen CCU play, but if you had to compare conferences, then I'd give the advantage to SLU.

[colgate13]

Not so sure about SELA, but for what it is worth I like CCU's long term chances to build a winning program we'll all talk about down the road.

[CosmoVixen24]

Alright, opinion time:

Coastal Carolina and Southeast Louisiana are both going into their third season as I-AA football programs - at least the second time around for SELA.

Now, judging these two as startups - since it had been over 20 years since SELA had a team, who's in the best shape currently of the two?

I happened to see both play at Gardner-Webb last season and just based on the fact that G-W hammered SELA in the final game and Coastal topped G-W earlier in the year you'd think that CCU was the better squad.

Looking at talent, Southeast seemed to have the edge. Their front seven was absolutely huge, just didn't seem very motivated in Boiling Springs. Coastal was fired up.

Coaching wise, I'd give the edge to the Thundering Beach Chickens for sure. Yes, Bennett over Mumme. Motivation over style.

Talent wise, Southeast. They had/have some true I-A talent at several positions.

Program wise, I guess we'll see this year. Both play comparable schedules.

Any thoughts?


You nailed it. We weren't motivated at all when we were in Boiling Springs. Our guys were just really tired from the ride and I was suprised that the fire wasn't lit under them until the fourth quarter, because we didn't want to end the game with a REALLY bad score. Other than that, I think we had a good season for a start-up program and we do have good talent. Although we've had such a transformation as far as players and coaches go, I'm hoping for the best and thinking we may do better than our opponents think.

[SoCon48]

[QUOTE=Thumper250]Alright, opinion time:

Coastal Carolina and Southeast Louisiana are both going into their third season as I-AA football programs - at least the second time around for SELA.

Now, judging these two as startups - since it had been over 20 years since SELA had a team, who's in the best shape currently of the two?

I happened to see both play at Gardner-Webb last season and just based on the fact that G-W hammered SELA in the final game and Coastal topped G-W earlier in the year you'd think that CCU was the better squad.

Looking at talent, Southeast seemed to have the edge. Their front seven was absolutely huge, just didn't seem very motivated in Boiling Springs. Coastal was fired up."
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Sounds like a good benchmark start-up program for comaparison. Just don't agree that an 18 point margin for a team haven ridden a bus for 7-10 hours with minimal # of their fans in the stands is "hammering." Talking about a real road game! It would be real hard getting fired up vs a team they probably had not even heard of before.