NEW ORLEANS — Matt Viator has coached at three different levels of high school football in Louisiana and now two college levels as he begins his first season at Louisiana-Monroe.
Each job is different, Viator said Monday at Sun Belt media day, but he has carried one bedrock idea to each one.
“You never really are as behind as you think you are,” Viator said.
That’s good news for the Warhawks, whose coach was fired in the middle of last season while sputtering to a 2-11 finish. They have 13 starters returning, including nine on offense and four on the offensive line, but the Warhawks were picked last in the Sun Belt in a poll of head coaches.
Viator, who went 79-36 with five FCS playoff appearances in 10 seasons at McNeese State, said he’s not using the pick as a shot at his team, and it’s not a source of motivation. In fact, Viator said, he doesn’t blame the leagues coaches for doing so, considering what the Warhawks did last season.
They won only one Sun Belt game — their worst finish since 2003 — and four times lost to a Sun Belt team by 20 points or more.
“You look at ULM’s case last year; we won [at McNeese State] as many games as ULM lost,” he said. “But nevertheless, on Jan. 20, if I would have been in Lake Charles or Monroe, the conversation is the same — last year is over. You better move forward.”
Viator will try to do that with an offense that includes quarterback Garrett Smith, running back Ben Luckett, and receiver Walter Holley, a second-team all-Sun Belt pick from Hot Springs Lakeside.
The defense returns only four starters, and no linemen, but Viator said its shift to a 4-2-5 alignment has caused linebackers to move to the line. Safety Tre’ Hunter was a preseason second-team pick.
Viator, hired in December, has to navigate a schedule that includes Oklahoma, Auburn and each of the top five Sun Belt picks.
“The expectations are to win,” Viator said. “And that’s regardless of where you are and what the situation is. What I've seen from our team is a really good attitude and a cooperative group that really wants to do well.”
FOOTBALL PREVIEWS
Arkansas State reporter Troy Schulte previewed each team in the Sun Belt conference. Read each one below:
Louisiana-Monroe at a glance
2015 RECORD 2-11, 1-7
ALL-TIME SUN BELT RECORD 50-58 (fourth)
COACH Matt Viator (79-36 in 11th season overall, 0-0 in first season at Louisiana-Monroe)
RETURNING STARTERS 13 (nine on offense, four on defense)
KEY PLAYERS WR Walter Holley, DB Tre' Hunter, QB Garrett Smith, RB Ben Luckett, LB David Griffith
KEY LOSSES WR Marcus Green, WR Rashon Ceaser, DB Tre Caldwell, DL Ben Banogu
TITLE SCENARIO A path to a bowl game, much less the Sun Belt title, is as fuzzy as as it gets for Louisiana-Monroe this season. Not only does it have a new coaching staff and just a handful of starters returning on defense, but first-year Coach Matt Viator was given no favors with the schedule. The Warhawks are the only Sun Belt team who play Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State and Louisiana-Lafayette, the teams picked first-through-fifth in the preseason Sun Belt poll. What's worse, the Warhawks have to play at Appalachian State, ASU and Georgia Southern, picked first, second and third. Viator's best chance for a Sun Belt victory likely comes Oct. 15, when his team hosts Texas State, a team that has almost as many question marks.