Returning starter Blaine Gautier, heading into his senior season, is the guy now. Terrance Broadway, if all goes as suspected, will be next, likely for two seasons to come after this one.

But among the crop of future Ragin’ Cajun quarterbacks beyond that is Brooks Haack, a true freshman from Texas who arrived with some inside knowledge on what it will be like to be at UL.

Haack’s sister is softball player Matte Haack, the Cajuns’ starting first baseman after transferring to UL last year from the University of Arizona.

Or, to put it otherwise "¦

"Especially growing up, it’s always been ‘Matte’s little brother.’ Of course," Haack said. "But hopefully I’ll come in and make a name for myself, and hopefully we’re just ‘the Haack siblings,’ or something like that.

"But right now I have no problem being Matte’s little brother."

Haack is one of three freshmen quarterback signees for the Cajuns, along with local products D’Shaie Landor (Tuerlings Catholic High) and Jalen Nixon (Carencro High).

The product of Katy High in Katy, Texas, picked UL over the University of Houston, a backyard school that liked watching Haack lead his team to a 27-3 record as a starter and throw for 1,991 yards and 31 touchdowns as a senior.

"I just felt like I’d been (in the Houston area) for so long," said Haack, whose father, ex-high school football assistant coach Kalum Haack, is Katy High’s longtime softball coach after stints as head coach at Sam Houston State, Kansas and Alabama.

"I just needed to go out and experience something new. I have a couple friends who go (to UL), and all I hear is, ‘I love this place, I love this place.’ "

It’s a familiar refrain for Haack.

He’s also heard it from his parents, Kalum and mother Leslie, frequent visitors this year to Lafayette to watch a nationally ranked Cajun softball team that came one win shy of an NCAA Women’s College World Series appearance.

"They were just like, ‘Man, we love this place, we love this place,’ " Haack said. "Now they try to find to vacation times to come down here, just because they love it so much.

"It’s good to have us both here so they can visit us at the same time, instead of having to decide which one to go visit which weekend."

As easy as that makes it, though, Haack suggested he wasn’t pressured at all.

"They put in their two cents and were like, ‘Make sure you take your time, really know that this is your place,’ " he said. "They were (also) like, ‘Matte loves it; I’m sure you guys would love it together.’

"But they made sure it was my decision."

Though neither brother, sister nor parents had prior ties to the city or school, Brooks has heard lots of love-Lafayette talk too from Matte.

Yet he’s the one UL was onto first, even before Matte Haack transfered.

"It really was all one big coincidence," Haack said. "God’s fate, I guess you can say.

"Because (the Cajuns) were recruiting me. I came on a visit, and just really liked it. Then, sure enough, her scholarship at Arizona wasn’t good, and UL wanted her.

"So she came here. And that was a big thing, to have my sister here," he added. "It wasn’t the main thing. But it really did make a difference having her."

The recruiting visit sealed the deal for Haack, who has been getting practice reps alongside Nixon and Landor since the Cajuns opened preseason camp Aug. 2.

His sister’s satisfaction with her own decision only served to validate the choice to ultimately sign last February.

"She was just like, ‘Everybody here is nice; the food’s great; this the place you want to be,’ " Haack said. "She said she knew when she walked in this campus that this was the right place.

"And knowing her, how close we are, I just know she was being (honest), and I was gonna trust her. Sure enough, I’ve loved it so far."

So give Cajun football recruiters credit for landing their target, one who — like Landor and Nixon — seems bound to be redshirted in 2012.

But give an assist to Matte for helping ensure little bro’ honored his verbal commitment.

"It played a big part, but I wasn’t just going to base it my decision on just what she said," he said.

"I was gonna make sure this was the right place, that this is where I can see myself spending four, five (years), maybe a long time after my college days.

"But her telling me," Haack added, "definitely made a big impact."

Once he picked his school, in fact, sis was the first one to find out.

"She said she jumped up," Haack said. "That just made me more excited to call the coaches."