ULM hires Viator as football coach

Harry · December 15, 2015

he search for a new football coach at the University of Louisiana at Monroe is over.

ULM announced the hiring of McNeese State’s Matt Viator as the 16th head coach in program history on Monday, pending approval by the Louisiana System Board of Supervisors.

The university will formally introduce Viator at a press conference on Tuesday at 10 a.m. in the south end zone of Malone Stadium.

In 10 seasons at coaching his alma mater, Viator led McNeese to a 78-33 (.702) record, four conference titles and five trips to the FCS playoffs.

The Cowboys finished 10-1 and won the Southland Conference in 2015, but fell to 0-5 in the playoffs under Viator after being upset in the second round by conference rival Sam Houston State.

Viator, 52, is the only coach in the history of the Southland Conference with eight-or-more seasons on the job to never have a losing season. His record within the league stands at 54-18 (.750).

read more: http://www.thenewsstar.com/story/sports/both-teams-played-hard/2015/12/14/ulm-hires-viator-football-coach/77279390/

On another note, Viator's DC at McNeese is pretty good. I expect that McNeese will try to hire him as their HC but I would give him a look.

Lance Guidry Bio

Cr1028 · December 15, 2015

Will be interesting to see how he does since he is replacing a fired coach and not one who was hired away.

Eagle-96 · December 15, 2015

Looks to be a solid hire for ULM. Success at the FCS level and knows the state of Louisiana well.

Travis · December 15, 2015

Good for them.

FirefightnRick · December 15, 2015

Excellent hire.

http://m.ulmwarhawks.com/mobile/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=19000&ATCLID=210584648

Rick

DeepGreen · December 15, 2015

Good hire for ULM. But don't forget that McNeese, usually a strong football program, is ideally located, and sits close to the Texas border. They have the best of both world when it comes to recruiting. 27 Texans to be exact. Whether this translates to aviator getting good recruits at ULM remains to be seen.

Edited December 15, 2015 by DeepGreen

southsideguy · December 15, 2015

now he has to worry about his players transferring to McNeese

Fry Guy · December 16, 2015

On another note, Viator's DC at McNeese is pretty good. I expect that McNeese will try to hire him as their HC but I would give him a look.
Lance Guidry Bio

I absolutely would. He may not have the seemingly requisite pre-existing relationship with Coach Littrell, but he's both young and experienced, and he's already been recruiting in East Texas for the past few years. Plus, he seems to have the whole "fiery personality" thing down pat.

Edited December 16, 2015 by Fry Guy

TheReal_jayD · December 16, 2015

I absolutely would. He may not have the seemingly requisite pre-existing relationship with Coach Littrell, but he's both young and experienced, and he's already been recruiting in East Texas for the past few years. Plus, he seems to have the whole "fiery personality" thing down pat.

lance has already been announced as new head coach mcneese