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What I think happened when Tyrann Mathieu went to McNeese

Posted on 8/19/12 at 8:13 am
Posted by JohnStOnge
Prarieiville, LA
Member since Feb 2008
132 posts
Posted on 8/19/12 at 8:13 am
Because of criticism McNeese got for talking to Tyrann Mathieu I feel compelled to type what I think happened when TM went to McNeese. I think he went there thinking it was just a matter of him showing up and McNeese saying "we will take you." But I don't think that happened. I think what happened when he got there is that head coach Matt Viator was non-committal and took a "we need to both make sure we really want to do this" approach.

I say that because of feedback I got from former McNeese beat reporter Gary Laney (now with GeauxNation and who goes by "McBeat" on the McNeese Delphi board as well as some others). Someone had posted an article including a quote Gary got from Coach Viator (LINK ... ate-source). The quote I saw that made me think what I think is:

quote:

Mathieu did visit McNeese State on Friday night, Cowboys coach Matt Viator told GeauxNation's Gary Laney. However, Mathieu left without a commitment.

"It's very important for both us and Tyrann to make the right decision and Tyrann agreed," Viator said. "It was a long day. We both needed to back off a bit and make the best decision. Especially him. He needs to catch his breath and make sure he makes the right decision."




After reading that I posted the following:

quote:

From the quotes McBeat got from Coach Viator I got the impression that Coach Viator did not give him the "we will take you" response he and those close to him may have expected. I think Coach Viator had a "we both really have to think about whether or not we want to do this" type of attitude.


Shortly thereafter Gary responded to my post by writing:

quote:

I think what you gathered about Matt's handling of this is pretty spot on.


Now, there's some message board stuff there and message boards contain a lot of unreliable information. But it's confirmed as a belief shared by a reporter who has a good, long standing relationship with coach Viator and who interviewed him shortly after the meeting.
This post was edited on 8/19/12 at 8:17 am
Posted by tigerdup07
Member since Dec 2007
21974 posts
Posted on 8/19/12 at 8:15 am to
quote:

I think he went there thinking it was just a matter of him showing up and McNeese saying "we will take you."


no. T.M. played high school ball for 4 years. He had no interest in playing for 2 more.

sorry, man.

Posted by tigerblood29
Member since Sep 2009
3062 posts
Posted on 8/19/12 at 8:16 am to
That's pretty hard to believe.Tyrann is a take no matter what,if Viator is interested in winning games
Posted by Tiger Nation 84
Member since Dec 2011
36531 posts
Posted on 8/19/12 at 8:17 am to
another example of why viator is dumb, why wouldnt you roll out the red carpet for a guy like this moron
This post was edited on 8/19/12 at 8:20 am
Posted by rutiger
purgatory
Member since Jun 2007
21136 posts
Posted on 8/19/12 at 8:19 am to
quote:

Now, there's some message board stuff there and message boards contain a lot of unreliable information.


Like this post with you making shite up trying to connect the dots.
Posted by notiger1997
Metairie
Member since May 2009
58277 posts
Posted on 8/19/12 at 8:20 am to
I think TM felt he needed to go there as a process for deciding his next step. He and his family may have felt that McNeese did not have the support network that was needed there.

Maybe they also finally had someone convince them around that time that TM needed to be in some kind of facility and not worrying about football.
Posted by 4LSU2
Member since Dec 2009
37348 posts
Posted on 8/19/12 at 8:20 am to
The knee jerk reaction was for the kid to go play football. Everyone knew the best thing for him was to enter rehab to try and cure his dependency on illicit drugs. No one wanted to take on the train wreck that had become Tyrann Mathieu to watch it de-rail in front of their eyes. The kid needs help and hopefully he gets it.
Posted by Guava Jelly
Bawston
Member since Jul 2009
11651 posts
Posted on 8/19/12 at 8:26 am to
First of all, it's done. He's not playing at McNeese. Let's move on.

Second, take this at face value, but I was told by McNeese football player friends of mine that he was offered and in. Furthermore, my neighbor, a music prof. at McNeese, informed me and my girlfriend (also a mcneese prof) that TM was enrolled in his "History of Rock N Roll" course this fall. This guy generally keeps to himself and is not, by any means, a football fan so I don't see why he'd lie.



I'm aware that this is all hearsay and you won't believe me, just saying it looks more like TM was in and getting cold feet than Viator thinking he may not want to take him.
Posted by nosaj56
Member since Aug 2007
21991 posts
Posted on 8/19/12 at 8:32 am to
MSB
Posted by TampaTiger22
Tampa, FL
Member since Jul 2012
6669 posts
Posted on 8/19/12 at 8:53 am to
TM did the right thing . If he doesnt come back next year , he will go into the draft . I am glad he isnt playing and is doing what I consider to be the right thing .
Posted by RealityTiger
Geismar, LA
Member since Jan 2010
20457 posts
Posted on 8/19/12 at 9:57 am to
If all this is true, no wonder Viator is stuck coaching a program like McNeese State. TM is the kind of player who would've single handedly brought a FCS national championship to Lake Charles. He damn near brought one to Baton Rouge.
Posted by VOR
Member since Apr 2009
63660 posts
Posted on 8/19/12 at 10:11 am to
quote:

What I think happened when Tyrann Mathieu went to McNeese


He took a long look at Lake Charles, turned around and headed back east.
Posted by CP3LSU25
Louisiana
Member since Feb 2009
51150 posts
Posted on 8/19/12 at 10:18 am to
quote:

JohnStOnge

Posted by TorNation
Sulphur, LA
Member since Aug 2008
2872 posts
Posted on 8/19/12 at 10:51 am to
quote:

Because of criticism McNeese got for talking to Tyrann Mathieu

This I would like to see, post us a link. First I heard of criticism for talking to him.
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