Louisiana Tech

6-2

Program prestige

Zeitgeist statureRegional Program III
▲ Louisiana Tech's standing rose 0.74 points (+2.08 sd — the 4th-largest rise of 138 teams) after winning 35-20 at South Alabama: the 4th-most valuable win of the 56 teams that won.
#129 all-time▲ climbing

Stature and coaches, 1975–2026

The program’s standing over time, with every coach’s tenure beneath it — read down to see who was there for each rise and fall.

Louisiana Tech is Regional Program today. Never reached Dynasty tier; National Program is its high, most recently in 2019.

1975: National Program1976: National Program1977: National Program1978: National Program1979: National Program1980: National Program1981: Regional Program1988: Regional Program1989: Regional Program1990: Regional Program1991: Regional Program1992: Regional Program1993: Regional Program1994: Regional Program1995: Regional Program1996: Regional Program1997: Regional Program1998: Regional Program1999: Regional Program2000: Regional Program2001: Regional Program2002: Regional Program2003: Regional Program2004: Regional Program2005: Regional Program2006: Regional Program2007: Regional Program2008: Regional Program2009: Regional Program2010: Regional Program2011: Regional Program2012: Regional Program2013: Regional Program2014: Regional Program2015: National Program2016: National Program2017: National Program2018: National Program2019: National Program2020: Regional Program2021: Regional Program2022: Regional Program2023: Regional Program2024: Regional Program2025: Regional Program2026: Regional Program198020002020
DynastyBlue BloodPower ProgramNational ProgramRegional Program

Run↔pass identity, by season

No play-by-play coverage before 2004more passmore run200420062008201020122014201620182020202220242026

Every coach, tenure by tenure, on the coaching page →

Program outlook

Program outlook

Terry Bradshaw went to Louisiana Tech. Four Super Bowls. Hall of Fame. The program won a national title in 1973. None of that gets Louisiana Tech out of Ruston, Louisiana — but the Bulldogs carry it without apology.

Since Jun 14: W 32-31 vs Louisiana; W 24-0 at UL Monroe; W 26-0 vs Old Dominion; W 35-20 at South Alabama. 6-2 this season.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

The pedigree is real and the profile is modest, and Louisiana Tech has made peace with the distance between them. Bradshaw came from Ruston, played for Maxie Lambright's Bulldogs in the late 1960s, went first overall in the 1970 NFL Draft, and went on to become one of the sport's most famous faces. The program won the College Division national championship in 1973. By any measure of what a small north Louisiana school should produce, that is an extraordinary history. By the measure of where the program has spent its modern life — Group of Five, Conference USA, the Sun Belt starting July 1, 2026 — the gap between the pedigree and the circumstance is real and generational.

Under fourth-year head coach Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech went 8-5 in 2025 and beat Coastal Carolina 23-14 in the Independence Bowl — a clean, unflashy winning season that describes the program's modern mode precisely. Stability, not glamour. Bowl-eligible, not headline-chasing. The 2025 season also brought a significant change on the horizon: Louisiana Tech leaves Conference USA for the Sun Belt as a full member on July 1, 2026 — a new league, a fresh competitive context, and the first legitimate shot at a conference title since the WAC championship in 2011.

That's the 2026 question in Ruston: can steady football, in a new league, turn pedigree into a present-tense result? The fanbase knows what the program is and isn't. They carry Bradshaw's name like it outranks the standings. A Sun Belt title would let the scoreboard catch up to the history.

On the field

Quarterback-developing, throw-it-around football — a lineage from Bradshaw through Tim Rattay that prizes producing passers and making the game move through the air. Cumbie's modern system fits that tradition: efficient passing concepts, pro-style reads, stability over splash. The defense aims for sturdy rather than spectacular. The fan character is plainspoken north Louisiana pride — people who know what their school produced, wear it without bragging, and show up anyway.

Program outlook · as of Jun 14, 2026

Louisiana Tech has won 48% of its games since 1904 — 65% at home, 35% on the road.

306-324-11 all-time · 94 seasons · 1904–2026

Home 170-86-7
Away 126-231-3
Neutral 10-7-1
9 g 1900s
8 g 1910s
7 g 1920s
0% 1930s
31% 1940s
43% 1960s
64% 1970s
40% 1980s
54% 1990s
43% 2000s
60% 2010s
41% 2020s
The era · 2014 through 2026

The CFP era

13 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 85-75 13 seasons
Best season 10-3 2019
Trajectory · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program quality AP rank (inverted) CFP appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24Now

Swipe left for earlier seasons

Chapters · 13 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 9-5 '15 9-4 '16 9-5 '17 7-6 '18 8-5 '19 10-3 '20 5-5 '21 3-9 '22 3-9 '23 3-9 '24 5-8 '25 8-5 '26 6-2

Louisiana Tech’s 2014–2026 record is 85-75.

Era win %
.531
Ranked seasons (AP)
0/13
Best AP finish
—

Sonny Cumbie

Sonny Cumbie has held the program for 5 seasons — the era is established.

Era Sonny Cumbie · 2022–presentPrev: Skip Holtz (2013–2021)OC: Nathan YoungPrev OC: Tony Franklin (2025)DC: Luke OlsonPrev DC: Jeremiah Johnson / Jeff Burris (co) (2024)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
5 years · era

Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss, meeting by meeting

Southern Miss leads the series 20-13-0 (since 1963); in the last 10 meetings, Louisiana Tech is 5-5

evenLouisiana Tech aheadSouthern Miss ahead198020002020

2025: Louisiana Tech won 30-20. After this game, Southern Miss led 20-13-0.

Last 25 meetings: ▲ Louisiana Tech won, ▼ Southern Miss won, by how much

1971: Southern Miss won 24-201972: Louisiana Tech won 33-141975: Southern Miss won 24-141976: Louisiana Tech won 23-221977: Louisiana Tech won 28-101980: Southern Miss won 38-111982: Louisiana Tech won 13-61983: Southern Miss won 28-101984: Southern Miss won 34-01985: Southern Miss won 28-01988: Southern Miss won 26-191991: Louisiana Tech won 30-141992: Southern Miss won 16-132010: Southern Miss won 13-122011: Southern Miss won 19-172013: Louisiana Tech won 36-132014: Louisiana Tech won 31-202015: Southern Miss won 58-242016: Southern Miss won 39-242017: Southern Miss won 34-272018: Southern Miss won 21-202019: Louisiana Tech won 45-302020: Louisiana Tech won 31-302021: Southern Miss won 35-192025: Louisiana Tech won 30-201984: by 3419712025

Each step is one meeting: up when Louisiana Tech wins, down when Southern Miss wins, flat for a tie. Counts every game in our records since 1963. Tap the line for any season.

Moments in Louisiana Tech history

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

1970

Terry Bradshaw drafted No. 1 overall

The Ruston QB goes first in the NFL draft, putting Louisiana Tech on the national map

1973 Division II national title

Louisiana Tech wins the College Division / Division II national championship

2025 Independence Bowl win

A 23-14 bowl win over Coastal Carolina caps an 8-5 season and the program's return to stability

Moment of the year · 2026

Lost 14-45 at LSU

Week 2 of 2026. A reckoning loss — the data point the next season must answer.

Decisive marginvs Top-10 (#8)

More in this tab

Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 6-2

Louisiana Tech is 6-2 — bowl-eligible, unranked.

6+ wins, bowl access secured. The baseline of a successful FBS year.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
ConferenceWhere this team sits in this season's conference standings.

Sun Belt standing · 2026

1st in the Sun Belt

Louisiana Tech sits at the top of the Sun Belt at 4-0. Everyone else is chasing.

#ProgramRecord
1Louisiana Tech4-0
2James Madison4-2
3Georgia Southern3-1
4App State2-2
5Arkansas State2-2
6Coastal Carolina2-2
7Louisiana2-2
8Marshall2-2
9South Alabama2-2
10Southern Miss2-2
11Troy2-2
12Georgia State1-3
13UL Monroe1-3
14Old Dominion1-5
Coaching historyCurrent head coach Sonny Cumbie, hired 2022

Coaching history

  • Hired Sonny Cumbie2022
  • Skip Holtz departs64-50, 9 seasons
  • Hired Skip Holtz2013
  • Sonny Dykes departs22-15, 3 seasons
  • Hired Sonny Dykes2010
  • Derek Dooley departs17-20, 3 seasons
  • Hired Derek Dooley2007
  • Jack Bicknell departs43-52, 8 seasons
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Louisiana Tech’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2015 · Tony Petersen2016–2019 · Todd Fitch2020–2021 · Joe Sloan2022–2023 · Scott Parr (co) / Jake Brown (co)2024 · Scott Parr (co) / Nathan Young (co)2025 · Tony Franklin2026 · Nathan Young
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014 · Manny Diaz2015–2018 · Blake Baker2019 · Bob Diaco2020–2021 · David Blackwell2022–2023 · Scott Power2024 · Jeremiah Johnson / Jeff Burris (co)2025–2026 · Luke Olson
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

Terry Bradshaw 1968-1969

since 1968

more

Terry Bradshaw played QB at Louisiana Tech 1968-1969 + was drafted #1 overall by Pittsburgh in 1970. Bradshaw's Hall of Fame NFL career (4 Super Bowl rings with the Steelers) + the iconic Steel Curtain era retroactively elevated LA Tech football. Bradshaw's #12 jersey is retired + permanent program identity.

1973 Division II National Championship

since 1973

more

Louisiana Tech won the 1973 NCAA Division II national championship — Maxie Lambright coaching, perfect 12-0 season. The title cemented LA Tech as the dominant North Louisiana football program + opened the path to FBS reclassification (eventually) + Conference USA membership.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsLast 5 bowls 3-2, 10-5 since 1977

Recent postseason (1977-2025): 10-5

Most recent: 2025 Independence Bowl — win 23-14. Last 5 postseason: 3-2.

2025 W2024 L2020 L2019 W2018 W
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/CFB moments

430
[Postgame Thread] BYU Defeats Louisiana Tech 45-14
Oct 2020 · r/CFB
259
[Postgame Thread] WKU Defeats Louisiana Tech 28-27 (OT)
Oct 2025 · r/CFB
252
[Postgame Thread] SMU Defeats Louisiana Tech 39-37
Sep 2021 · r/CFB
219
[Postgame Thread] SMU Defeats Louisiana Tech 38-14
Sep 2023 · r/CFB
191
[Postgame Thread] Louisiana Tech Defeats FIU 43-31
Sep 2019 · r/CFB

All-time top community posts

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