The UL Ragin’ Cajuns reported for camp Tuesday with the first football practice session coming Wednesday in preparation for the season.

No one knows what’s about to take place. Everyone around the program got a clear reminder a year ago how a season can depart from perceived expectations, but there was definitely a handful of themes between the coaches and players who spoke Tuesday.

Got to do better

Multiple players said it after the Cajuns finished 6-7 in 2025.

“We’re a 6-7 football team until we prove otherwise.”

Finishing 6-7 wasn’t as bad as it could have been last season when you factor injuries, but it’s a long way from what the program’s goals stand.

Once again, the Cajuns failed in a bowl game with a 20-13 loss to Delaware in the Ventures Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. 

“There’s an urgency that inherently comes with it when you fall short like that,” special teams coordinator Mike Giuliani said. “That feeling that you have … does not leave you.

“We want to represent the West in the Sun Belt championship game and win that game. We were close, but we haven’t gotten it done. Everyone in the building knows that.”

UL’s last bowl win came in 2021.

Staying healthy

It’s hard to point fingers at injuries. Most of it is bad luck.

But after struggling through a barrage of injuries to the offensive line, staying healthy goes to the top of the list.

“Obviously, that’s really important,” said Mark Hocke, UL’s director of athletic performance. “This is not a soft sport. Football isn’t for everybody. It’s a violent sport. That’s part of the game. You’re going to have injuries, so we have a plan year round to be more proactive.”

Hocke said players go through a battery of tests “that allows us to be more proactive and maybe catch some things on the front end.”

Still, “you don’t train gladiators pillow fighting,” so the plan is to be “more calculated, intentional, working with the athletic training staff.”

 From a conditioning standpoint, Hocke said progress was made since the end of last season.

“We’ve had a lot of personal records,” he said.

That includes 73 players in the power clean, 67 in the bench press, 68 in the squat and a 3% increase in team top speed … “45 players had top speed PRs and 39 jump heights in just an eight-week window,” Hocke said.

‘No big plays’

Defensive coordinator Jim Salgado didn’t run from the obvious.

UL’s opponents averaged 6.0 yards per play last season, much more than the offense’s 5.2 yards per play.

In his second year as coordinator, there were more big plays allowed than in his first season.

“Yeah, that first meeting … one of our expectations is no big plays,” Salgado said. “That should not happen. That’s something we stressed the entire offseason, because if you went and looked at Year 1 and then Year 2, it’s the opposite. We had to fix that in the spring.”

In other words, the secondary must reduce the coverage busts.

“If you don’t communicate, you can’t play,” Salgado said. “You’re not going to be successful. I think our guys have come a long way from Year 1 to where we are right now going into the season. That’s another thing that excites me as a coach.”

Backs not the question

It’s easy to see why some would question the Cajuns’ running back room. After all, last year’s two leading rushers Bill Davis and Zylan Perry transferred.

Ask any of the coaches or players about that possible and there’s no hesitation.

The group has an inside rusher in Steven Blanco, an precision option in Darrel Smith and an explosive one in JJ Garner.

“I think that group has been very mature for a young group of guys,” coach Michael Desormeaux said.

The defense doesn’t foresee a drop-off.

“I don’t see a running back problem at all,” senior defensive tackle Fitzgerald West said. “Yes, we lost Bill and we lost Zylan, but we have a new Bill and a new Zylan … trust me. I don’t see any running back problems.”

Junior tight end Caden Jensen agrees.

“Yeah, I don’t see a question mark in that room at all,” he said. “I see an exclamation point, because we’ve got guys in that room.

“It starts with coach (Marquase) Lovings, the running backs coach. He has set the expectation in that room.”

Hidden high priority

Most focus on offensive ball carriers, pass rushers and maybe the secondary in terms of key areas of emphasis entering camp.

One of the biggest questions the Cajuns need answered before the regular season is a third tight end.

That may sound like an exaggeration. After all, you have your starter in Jensen and the back half of the 1-2 punch in senior Brock Chappell.

“Brock and I are really close, outside of the facilities too,” Jensen said. “We talk a lot about football. We need to become dominant in the run game and in the passing game.”

But the other chore is helping a third option develop.

“Yes and the coaches have told us that it’s wide open,” Jensen said.

The options include sophomore Teddy Gawlik, redshirt freshman Quandre Coates and redshirt freshman Khristian Mackintrush.

“We view Teddy as an older guy,” Jensen said. “He’s been in the tight end room for a while.”

Why is it so important?

Because  if a third tight end doesn’t arise, the offense will be limited.

“You would see a turn toward more ’11’ personnel with only two tight ends and then a third receiver,” offensive coordinator Tim Leger.

In other words, it would limit the options for the offense.

“So yes, it’s one of the challenges going forward here to see who can step out and establish themselves in that room,” Leger said.