List of Louisiana Tech Bulldogs head football coaches

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football program is a college football team that represents Louisiana Tech University in Conference USA in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The team has had 33 head coaches and one interim head coach since it started playing organized football in 1901. The current head coach of the Bulldogs is Sonny Cumbie, who was hired on November 30, 2021. Cumbie previously served as the interim head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Texas Tech University.

Key

Key to symbols in coaches list

General		Overall		Conference		Postseason [A 1]
No.	Order of coaches [A 2]	GC	Games coached	CW	Conference wins	PW	Postseason wins
DC	Division championships	OW	Overall wins	CL	Conference losses	PL	Postseason losses
CC	Conference championships	OL	Overall losses	CT	Conference ties	PT	Postseason ties
NC	National championships	OT	Overall ties [A 3]	C%	Conference winning percentage
†	Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame	O%	Overall winning percentage [A 4]

Coaches

Statistics correct as of January 1, 2024.

#	Name	Term	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	PT	CCs	NCs	Awards
1	Edwin Barber	1901	2	0	2	0	.000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2	Frank Singleton	1902	3	1	1	1	.500	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3	W. M. Robb	1903	2	1	1	0	.500	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4	E. G. Pierce	1904	4	1	3	0	.250	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	J. U. Bragg	1905	1	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
6	Zack T. Young	1906	6	2	1	3	.583	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
7	George L. Watkins	1907	10	9	1	0	.900	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
8	A. L. Cornell	1908	8	4	3	1	.563	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
9	Percy S. Prince	1909–1915, 1919	46	24	17	5	.576	1	1	1	.500	—	—	—	1	—	—
10	A. Flack	1916	6	2	4	0	.333	1	1	0	.500	—	—	—	—	—	—
11	Villis Stephen Pugh	1917	5	2	3	0	.400	0	2	0	.000	—	—	—	—	—	—
12	R. Foster Clark	1920–1921	12	11	1	0	.917	3	1	0	.750	—	—	—	1	—	—
13	William Henry Dietz †	1922–1923	15	11	3	1	.767	1	0	1	.750	—	—	—	—	—
14	Philip Arbuckle	1924	8	1	6	1	.188	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—	—	—
15	Ralph C. Kenney	1925	9	1	6	2	.222	1	2	1	.375	—	—	—	—	—	—
16	Hugh E. Wilson	1926–1927	17	8	7	2	.529	4	4	0	.500	—	—	—	—	—	—
17	Tod Rockwell	1928–1929	19	6	11	2	.368	3	8	1	.292	—	—	—	—	—	—
18	George Bohler	1930–1933	32	15	17	0	.469	12	11	0	.522	—	—	—	—	—	—
19	Eddie McLane	1934–1938	50	27	19	4	.580	18	12	3	.591	—	—	—	—	—	—
20	Ray E. Davis	1939	11	5	6	0	.455	0	2	0	.000	—	—	—	—	—	—
21	Joe Aillet †	1940–1966	245	151	86	8	.633	81	33	5	.702	—	—	—	12	—	4-time Gulf States Conference Coach of the Year Louisiana Tech Athletic Hall of Fame (1984) Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Holy Cross School Sports Hall of Fame (2018)
22	Maxie Lambright	1967–1978	133	95	36	2	.722	40	18	1	.686	8	3	0	7	3	Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Louisiana Tech Athletic Hall of Fame (1984) University of Southern Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame (1974)
23	Larry Beightol	1979	10	2	8	0	.200	1	4	0	.200	—	—	—	—	—	—
Int	Pat Patterson	1979	1	1	0	0	1.000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
24	Billy Brewer	1980–1982	35	19	15	1	.557	9	5	1	.633	1	1	0	1	—	—
25	A. L. Williams	1983–1986	48	28	19	1	.594	14	9	0	.609	3	1	0	1	—	1984 Louisiana Coach of the Year
26	Carl Torbush	1987	11	3	8	0	.273	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
27	Joe Raymond Peace	1988–1995	88	41	43	4	.489	5	13	0	.278	0	0	1	—	—	1990 Louisiana Coach of the Year
28	Gary Crowton	1996–1998	34	21	13	—	.618	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
29	Jack Bicknell, Jr.	1999–2006	95	43	52	—	.453	24	23	—	.511	0	1	—	1	—	2001 WAC Coach of the Year
30	Derek Dooley	2007–2009	37	17	20	—	.459	12	12	—	.500	1	0	—	—	—	2008 Louisiana Coach of the Year
31	Sonny Dykes	2010–2012	37	22	15	—	.595	14	7	—	.667	0	1	—	1	—	2011 WAC Coach of the Year
32	Skip Holtz	2013–2021	118	65	53	—	.551	43	27	—	.614	6	1	—	—	—	2016 C-USA Coach of the Year
33	Sonny Cumbie	2022–present	24	6	18	—	.250	4	12	—	.250	0	0	—	—	—	-

^[4]

Notes

1. Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played. ^[1]
2. A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
3. Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since. ^[2]
4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss. ^[3]

References

1. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
2. Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
3. Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
4. "2021 Louisiana Tech Football Record Book". Ruston, Louisiana: Louisiana Tech University . Retrieved September 26, 2022.