No coach or program likes to be in the midst of a losing streak, but that's precisely where ULM head baseball coach Bruce Peddie find themselves after dropping 11 games in a row with their most recent loss to rival Louisiana-Lafayette last night, which marked their 20th straight loss to their in-state rival.
Peddie, who is in his third season and has one more year left on his contract, hopped on ESPN's Morning Drive yesterday before facing rival ULL and let his frustrations fly while critics continue to whisper about his job security. It's also worth noting that it was announced yesterday that ULM athletic director Brian Wickstrom would not have his contract renewed after it expires in June.
"I've never been around an area that wants people to fail," Peddie shared. That's the reality of it. I've seen it with a lot of sports here."
"The thing that I will say about all of this is, if it happens, is the problems aren't going to go away. There is a lot of problems. It's just a tough place, and if you look at the success across the board, we've got two championships - baseball, and now women's tennis. That's probably not a great legacy that we've got going."
Peddie went on to note that his program has struggled recruiting, and added that he's counted 73 players have turned down the opportunity to join the program during his time as the head coach.
"We remember what the president said, and I've tried to do that, but 'we need to do more with less.' That's out there. It's a quote. You've got to continue to just do what you can, and I think that we've done that. Sure the W's and L's aren't quite what everyone wanted, but hell, they're not what we wanted."
"To me, when you're struggling, you should be offering help - not burying people," Peddie explained. "The tough thing I have with all the talk and whispers with some of these famous people in the community, who know way more than I do that work at a bank or wherever they are, is they don't know what goes on to be a college coach."
Peddie is 72-124 since taking over, first as interim head coach and then the permanent head coach, since taking over in mid-2014.