UL football coaching staff focused on starting faster this season, beginning in spring
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Apr 17, 2026 Updated 4 hrs ago
UL running back JJ Garner (20) is one of the backs forcing some missed tackles during the Cajuns’ last spring scrimmage. STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD KEMP
UL coach Michael Desormeaux wouldn’t say there’s one overriding offseason theme that dominates team meetings and practices.
But Desormeaux would like to see his team get off to faster starts in 2026. The Cajuns got off to a slow start in 2025 and in several individual games as well.
“That’s something we’ve talked about,” he said. "We’ve got to have more urgency throughout this offseason. Last year, we had a veteran group in a lot of places and felt really good about what we had, but we got off to a slow start and lost some games we shouldn’t have.
“The finish was great … it was fantastic the way those guys closed out the year, but we’ve got to get everything to come together sooner this season.”
Not game ready yet
The annual Red and White spring game is scheduled for 11 a.m. April 25.
Desormeaux liked his team’s ability to refocus after a week off for spring break, but he’s expecting to see much better execution in that intrasquad contest than he did in the most recent scrimmage.
Overall, he is pleased with the offensive line.
“I thought our (number) one offensive line looked good, our twos were hit-and-miss, and our threes are not very good right now,” Desormeaux said. “We’ve got to continue to get that group better. I feel really confident that by the time we get to the season, we’ll have eight or nine that we feel really good about playing, which is usually what you’re looking for.”
Desormeaux was not pleased with the play of his quarterbacks behind the offensive line in that scrimmage.
“We did not play well at quarterback, which is disappointing, because I think we had seven good days (practices) before that,” Desormeaux said. “We were not very accurate. We made good decisions, but just weren’t very accurate with the football. So we’ve got to continue to improve there.”
The other area that left the coaching staff disappointed was the tackling on defense, particularly at the second level.
“I thought (running backs) Darrell (Smith) and JJ (Garner) made some really impressive runs,” Desormeaux said. "They did some really good stuff and were able to make people miss.
“The problem with that was I thought the secondary missed too many tackles in the open field.”
Injury update
Redshirt junior tight end Caden Jensen is in a walking boot after “getting rolled up a little bit in the scrimmage” and suffering an ankle sprain.
“There’s a hairline fracture in it, so they expect him to be in the boot for about four weeks and then he’ll be back to it,” Desormeaux said. “It hurts to lose him. He’s had a good spring.”
Jensen is one of the team leaders. The only good thing about an established starter not being available is it places more responsibility on younger players at that position.
Senior Brock Chappell is the clear-cut backup tight end, but redshirt sophomore Teddy Gawlik and redshirt freshman Khristian Mackintrush are promising options further down the depth chart.
“Teddy is someone that, you know, last year we hoped was going to kind of be a little more ready, kind of wasn’t, but this year he’s a redshirt sophomore and he’s playing better,” Desormeaux said. “We need him to play well. He’s got the ability to do it. Also, Khristian Mackintrush is someone I’m really excited about as the future goes.”
Desormeaux reinforced the importance of the depth chart. The team learned that lesson when the offensive line was ravaged with injuries last season.
“(Redshirt freshman) Quandre Coates, I think, is going to be a really good player,” he said. “Is he ready right now? No, not today, but those are two guys that we watched the tape (Wednesday). You’ve got to force-feed it and try to get them ready to play. They’re just two snaps away from having to play a whole bunch for us.”
