Football: Local products Figaro, Johnson transfer back to new UL

Kevin Foote, Daily Advertiser, August 19, 2013

With injuries behind him, former Lafayette High standout Devin Figaro (84) hopes to play a role in the Cajuns’ receiver corps this season. / Paul Kieu/The Advertiser

UL wide receiver Ricky Johnson participates in practice Thursday morning at the UL practice field. / Leslie Westbrook/The Advertiser

THE TRANSFERS

A look at current Ragin’ Cajuns who started at other NCAA Division I FBS programs but transferred to play for UL coach Mark Hudspeth (organized by first year playing at UL):
2012

Tig Barksdale, LB … Ole Miss, redshirt … South Panola (Miss.) High
Terrance Broadway, QB … Houston, played … Baton Rouge-Capitol High
T.J. Worthy, S … Ole Miss, redshirt … Gadsden (Ala.) City High
Devin Figaro, WR … Tulane, played … Lafayette High
2013

Ricky Johnson, WR … Tulsa, played … Carencro High
Marquis White, DL … South Florida, redshirt … Olympia (Fla.) High
2014

Jacoby Briscoe, DT … Miami, redshirt … Carencro High
Trey Granier, LB … LSU, redshirt … Thibodeaux High
Evan Tatford, TE … Tulane, played … St. Thomas More

When Devin Figaro left Lafayette High for Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia in 2008, the UL Ragin’ Cajun football program was coming off a 3-9 campaign in 2007 with frustration brewing after near-bowl misses in 2005 and 2006.

He would later play for two seasons at Tulane, including another 3-9 season for UL in 2010.

For former Carencro High standout Ricky Johnson, he left the area after another close-but-no-cigar 6-6 season in 2008 and played three seasons in Tulsa.

Both lived their formative years in Lafayette Parish never really feeling a level of excitement around the Ragin’ Cajuns’ football program.

So when they came back to visit the program with thoughts of transferring, both Figaro and Johnson very quickly noticed the difference.

“It was very exciting to come back and see,” said Figaro, who sat out the first season under Mark Hudspeth in 2011 as a redshirt. “Just watching coach Hud every day and how his related to his players and the excitement he brought, it was great.

“Every I saw, I knew there was no way they weren’t going to be successful. They were working too hard.”

Johnson played in 35 games over three years at Tulsa, including 13 starts, and hauled in 44 passes for 659 yards and seven touchdowns, before sitting out last season as a redshirt.

Like with Figaro the year before, Johnson closely followed a very different program than he left.

“There’s definitely a new feeling around Ragin’ Cajun football,” Johnson said. “Everywhere you go in the community, they’re talking about UL football. They never had that kind of tradition before. It’s real different. It’s exciting to be a part of.”

As much fun as both former All-Acadiana performers had watching the Cajuns claim New Orleans Bowl victories, actually contributing on the field to finish up their collegiate careers is what both Figaro and Johnson have in mind.

Figaro did catch three passes for 24 yards in five games before suffering a foot injury, one that was so bad that he couldn’t even dress out for the New Orleans Bowl.