Dennis Smith begged his boss to keep Tyrique Gibson on the board.
Gibson, a 6-foot-2, 250 lb. defensive end, gave his verbal pledge to archrival UL-Lafayette. McNeese State head coach Lance Guidry assumed that took his team out of the equation and asked Smith to erase his name.
“Give me a chance,” Smith, the Cowboys’ running backs coach who recruits the New Orleans area, told Guidry. “The mama likes me.”
Smith’s charm paid off, resulting in a flip from the Ponchatoula High standout last Sunday. Gibson faxed his letter of intent in Wednesday, one of four defensive linemen in the 17-man class that focused largely on defense.
“We stayed on him, we stayed on him and UL-(Lafayette) ended up messing up at the end I guess,” Guidry quipped. “He is a really, really good football player. Big kid, very physical. Got good size, good weight. We feel like he could be a really good defensive end that we’re missing, that could be a good pass rusher as well with his athleticism. May grow into a 275 lbs. guy.”
Unsurprisingly, Guidry took joy in UL-Lafayette’s misfortune. Asked if that commitment meant more given Gibson’s UL-Lafayette association, the head coach gave a wide grin and a nod.
“That felt good,” Guidry said. “Coach Smith probably felt the best.”
Briscoe bolsters himself in camp
After reviewing Barbe receiver Nate Briscoe’s junior film, Guidry admitted the McNeese staff had some questions about his game and whether he’d be a fit at his hometown school.
Briscoe attended the program’s camp that summer.
“We didn’t have a defensive back that could cover him at the camp,” Guidry remembered. “It really benefitted him coming to the camp. We sign a lot of kids that do come to our camp, as you get to work with them, you see how they take coaching, how fast are they, how big are they. That’s a really vital part to our program.”
A first-team All-State selection this season, Briscoe chose the Cowboys over Jackson State, following the footsteps of his family before him.
“His daddy played here and his grandfather,” Guidry said. “So, he’s McNeese through and through and we’re really happy to get him.”
North Carolina no barrier
Guidry assumes most forgot about Cory McCoy.
McCoy, the third-leading rusher in Leesville High School history, received an offer from McNeese following his junior season. That summer, though, he moved to North Carolina with his mother, returning just in time for his senior season.
“Probably didn’t know a lot about him, where he’d went,” Guidry said. “He went out there and we stayed in contact with him and he came back and we were on him the whole time. He’s an athlete, I think he can play corner, he can play nickel, he can play running back … He’s the type of guy that I say whatever is itching, he can scratch it. That’s what he’s going to do for us.”
McCoy was also a state runner-up in the 110-meter hurdles last season, a plus in Guidry’s mind.
“Any time you get a good hurdler, you get a good athlete.”
Guidry mourns Watkins
Prior to introducing his signing class, Guidry expressed condolences for former McNeese coach and athletic director Sonny Watkins, who was laid to rest Wednesday.
Guidry was originally scheduled to address the media at 1 p.m., but moved the press conference up to 11 a.m. so that the athletic department could attend Watkins’ funeral.
“Me and him go back a ways,” Guidry said. “I was a high school basketball player at Welsh and he was at St. Louis. Needless to say, they beat us. But anyway he was a really good guy and of course I got to come back here and work at McNeese when he was still the AD. Just a super guy.”
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