If you hope to play with the big boys, you have to pay with the big boys.

Or at least put your cash in the game.

It’s about time McNeese State officials are doing that by putting their money where their mouths are.

Maybe it’s long past time.

For years, Cowboy officials talked a good game. They wanted to have a football program that was elite, like the good old days.

Unfortunately, they were trying to do that by paying wages from those good old days.

They wanted the stadium filled, the playoff games returning, and the excitement back, always talking the good game. Yet they were trying to do it on the cheap.

The numbers finally didn’t add up, but the seasons without winning in the postseason have.

No longer a national power on the FCS level, McNeese was becoming even worse, no longer being talked about. Out of sight in the postseason was putting the program out of mind.

That seems to be changing.

Monday, as the Cowboys welcomed their new head football coach, they also ushered in a new era of spending.

As Gary Goff was introduced as the 18th man to lead the Cowboy program, McNeese was opening up its wallet.

Goff signed a three-year deal with two rollover years that could reach a value of well over $1 million. That’s the richest contract in Mc-Neese coaching history. It’s also about time.

By paying to get a quality coach after a true national search McNeese has shown the rest of college sports that it wants to be a player. It is something administrators at other schools have often worried about.

McNeese could be a sleeping giant that has finally stopped hitting the snooze button.

“In the past, our expectations have exceeded our commitment,” said MSU Athletic Director Heath Schroyer. “We can no longer do that.”

That has never been more true than when it comes to paying coaches. McNeese has stood still while schools in Lafayette and other places have bought into the cash race.

McNeese is now playing catchup.

The reality slapped officials in the face this fall when they went searching for a new conference to call home. They were offered a spot in another FCS league, the Western Athletic Conference, but wanted more.

McNeese was looking to jump up to the bigger Football Bowl Subdivision and the financial riches that move could bring.

But nobody from above came calling. Showed interest, sure, but no invitation came this time around.

Monday they took a giant leap to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

“We have a goal of where we want to play on the next level, and we are making a commitment to do that,” said McNeese President Dr. Daryl Burckel. “This move is a big part of that.”

So was the way Goff was hired.

The national search was just that, one that saw Schroyer and associate athletic director Tanner Stines travel some 7,000 miles they say back and forth conducting interviews.

In the end, they found Goff and brought him to Lake Charles by way of a private jet.

Burckel knows that the best way to advertise his school is through his football program. So a little splash with the help of some boosters is a good look.

Getting somebody who can split an atom gets your school in the history book, but getting somebody who can split the double team and make a winning touchdown catch gets your school on television. And that opens up checkbooks and eyes.

It may not be right, but it’s a fact. And it is all a part of the bigger game.

Big contracts won’t guarantee championships, but smaller ones guarantee there won’t be any coming for sure.

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Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese State athletics for the American Press. Email him at jimgazzolo@yahoo.com