The clock is ticking.

With recruiting in full swing and the transfer portal set to open very soon, this is not a good time to be looking for a new head coach.

The clock is ticking on McNeese State Athletic Director Heath Schroyer, who said he wants to make his choice “as soon as possible.”

Sooner is better than later, but what matters more is that he gets this right. Schroyer is clearly under the gun on this one. After firing Gary Goff on Monday just hours after a six-game improvement from the previous season, all eyes are on the AD now.

That’s why he gets the big bucks.

One can debate whether Schroyer pulled the trigger on Goff, who had a year remaining on his contract, one year too early or one year too late. Well, that no longer matters. You can’t put the bullet back in the chamber.

All that matters is what (or better yet: who) comes next. Schroyer said he wants somebody who gets the McNeese culture and is willing to embrace the community. That would surely please some of the old guard who still believe the area is brimming with football talent. Those folks are ready to head to Cowboy Stadium on Saturday nights in the fall.

That is a very romantic idea, but it’s far from today’s reality.

Sure, it would be great to get one of the McNeese blue bloods to come back home and make everything right. Good stories are always fun, but they only last for so long.

If you want to bring back the good times, you have to win.

Schroyer needs to find a football guy–one who understands more than Xs and Os. The next coach must understand the transfer portal, the business of NIL money and he must excite the fans in a way that they rally around a team built with a revolving roster door.

The new guy must understand all of that. He must also have both the willingness and the ability to recruit and retain talent.

Oh, yes, while raising funds in the process.

Yikes.

Fans need to realize the good ole days are long gone. It’s been 22 years (that’s more than two decades) since the Cowboys won a playoff game. It’s been nine seasons since they made the playoffs and five since they had a winning record.

It should also be noted that this time, unlike a year ago, there’s much more talent already on campus. After the 2023 season that saw the Cowboys finish 0-10, a complete overhaul of the program was warranted.

Now, after this 6-6 campaign, the changes needed are much more subtle.

You can’t carpet-bomb a program that’s already halfway rebuilt. A more surgical strike is needed this offseason.

The first thing that needs to be done is identifying the talent on hand, both in the players and the coaches. Keeping talent on both levels would be helpful to maintain some semblance of continuity within the program.

The next step is figuring out what areas need change and attacking those.

It may be hard to believe but this team really doesn’t have that far to go in order to find their way to the playoffs.

Schroyer must find the guy that’ll get the Cowboys over the hump. He needs to make the right choice and he needs to do it quickly.

The clock is ticking and all are watching.

Jim Gazzolo is a freelance sports writer who covers McNeese State athletics for the American Press. He can be reached at jimgazzolo@yahoo.com