The future.
It’s normally a term coaches cling to when the season isn’t going the right way, when their jobs get put on the line and fans start to mumble.
It’s normally something sports fans don’t like to hear. All we care about is the present and the success that team has had in the past.
But as we have found out at this University in the past few years with hurricanes and budget cuts, abnormal is the new normal. So when coaches around here use the cliché “the future of the program is bright,” sometimes (though not always), they aren’t lying.
Let’s take the case of two smaller sports on LSU’s campus that will make runs at Southeastern Conference championships in the fall — soccer and volleyball.
LSU soccer coach Brian Lee and volleyball coach Fran Flory held a joint media day last week to discuss the upcoming season and the “future” of their programs.
Now, these two teams normally hold press conferences together, so that was nothing out of the norm. But what was odd about the whole thing was both coaches had the same thing to say.
Lee referred to his team as the “next generation” of LSU soccer, Flory spoke of her team as a “special” group of kids, and both teams lack the handful of seniors they normally boast.
Their teams are exactly the same.
And that’s exciting not only for the “future” of these sports but for the present as well.
Lee’s team showed exactly what it’s capable of doing this season with an early 8-0 win at home during the weekend, and while Flory’s team hasn’t played in a match against another team yet, they are likely capable of doing the same thing with the crop of talent they have.
The volleyball and soccer teams both have something they haven’t had in the past few years while winning five and three SEC West Championships, respectively — depth.
Both are young, energetic teams that have the capability of putting a number of players into a match that will help secure victory. That’s something that hasn’t really been seen from either of those teams recently.
That means for the next three to four years, the “future” of these programs is in good hands when the few seniors left on these teams leave.
But, then again, why worry about the future when you have the present?
I’m not going to go out on a limb and say either of these teams will take home the overall SEC crown. But both will likely take home a division championship, which is something they have grown accustomed to doing recently.
It may take a few years for either team to make serious noise in their postseason tournaments, but that’s not what matters.
What matters is that this year these teams are going to be fun to watch because of their youth.
For all you freshmen and sophomores out there, one of the most fun aspects of being on a college campus is being able to watch young players grow into their full potential over four seasons. This is something you will be able to do with these teams.
So watch Lee’s and Flory’s teams over the next few years. We get a little too comfortable at LSU with championship traditions in most of the sports here on campus. And sometimes we take that for granted.
It’s nice to see a few teams with a bright future ahead of them.
But remember, let’s not forget what these teams can do this year.
 
Andy Schwehm is a 21-year-old psychology and English senior from New Orleans. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_ASchwehm.
 
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Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected].