The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns college football team represents the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the Sun Belt Conference. The Ragin' Cajuns compete as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 27 head coaches since it began play during the 1901 season. Since December 2021, Michael Desormeaux has served as head coach at Louisiana.
Five coaches have led Louisiana in postseason bowl games: Louis Whitman, Russ Faulkinberry, Mark Hudspeth, Billy Napier, and Desormeaux. Seven coaches have won conference championships: Johnny Cain and Louis Whitman each captured one as a member of the Louisiana Intercollegiate Conference; Faulkinberry captured three and Raymond Didier one as a member of the Gulf States Conference; Nelson Stokley captured two as a member of the Big West Conference; and Napier captured two and Rickey Bustle one as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
Faulkinberry and Stokley are the leaders in seasons coached with 13 years as head coach. Faulkinberry is the leader in overall wins with 66, and Napier has the highest winning percentage of those who coached more than three games at 0.769. Jerry Baldwin has the lowest winning percentage at 0.182. Of the 27 different head coaches who have led the Cajuns, Cain has been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Key
| General | Overall | Conference | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Order of coaches | 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 | C% | Conference winning percentage | ||
| † | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage | ||||
Coaches
| No. | Name | Season(s) |
GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | CC | NC | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ashby Woodson | 1901–1902 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.600 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | J. Ovey Herpin | 1903 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | Edwin F. Gayle | 1904 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.833 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Herbert McNaspy | 1906 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.750 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5 | Jefferson Caffery | 1907 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6 8 11 |
Clement J. McNaspy | 1908–1911 1913 1917–1918 |
53 | 34 | 15 | 4 | 0.679 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 7 | H. Lee Prather | 1912 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0.429 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9 | R. B. Dunbar | 1914–1915 | 16 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 0.656 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 10 12 14 |
T. R. Mobley | 1916 1919 1921–1930 |
111 | 56 | 48 | 7 | 0.536 | 16 | 23 | 0 | 0.410 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 13 | Herbert O. Tudor | 1920 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0.200 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 15 | Truman F. Wilbanks | 1931–1936 | 53 | 19 | 32 | 2 | 0.377 | 8 | 20 | 1 | 0.293 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| 16 18 |
Johnny Cain | 1937–1941 1946 |
57 | 33 | 19 | 5 | 0.623 | 16 | 9 | 1 | 0.635 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| 17 | Louis Whitman | 1942–1945 | 30 | 14 | 14 | 2 | 0.500 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0.591 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — | — |
| 19 | Gee Mitchell | 1947–1949 | 27 | 18 | 8 | 1 | 0.685 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0.667 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 20 | A. L. Swanson | 1950 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0.556 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0.400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 21 | Raymond Didier | 1951–1956 | 58 | 29 | 27 | 2 | 0.517 | 16 | 15 | 2 | 0.515 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — | — |
| 22 | John Robert Bell | 1957 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0.450 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0.300 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 23 | Red Hoggatt | 1958–1960 | 28 | 11 | 17 | 0 | 0.393 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 0.333 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 24 | Russ Faulkinberry | 1961–1973 | 131 | 66 | 63 | 2 | 0.511 | 30 | 34 | 1 | 0.469 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | — | — |
| 25 | Augie Tammariello | 1974–1979 | 67 | 30 | 35 | 2 | 0.463 | 11 | 17 | 2 | 0.400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 26 | Sam Robertson | 1980–1985 | 65 | 29 | 34 | 2 | 0.462 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0.450 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
| 27 | Nelson Stokley | 1986–1998 | 143 | 62 | 80 | 1 | 0.437 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0.778 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — |
| 28 | Jerry Baldwin | 1999–2001 | 33 | 6 | 27 | — | 0.182 | 2 | 4 | — | 0.333 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| 29 | Rickey Bustle | 2002–2010 | 106 | 41 | 65 | — | 0.387 | 30 | 32 | — | 0.484 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| 30 | Mark Hudspeth |
2011–2017 | 67 | 29 | 38 | — | 0.433 | 22 | 19 | — | 0.537 | 2 | 1 | — | 0 | — | — |
| 31 | Billy Napier | 2018–2021 | 52 | 40 | 12 | — | 0.769 | 27 | 5 | — | 0.844 | 2 | 1 | — | 2 | — | — |
| 32 | Michael Desormeaux | 2021–present | 27 | 13 | 14 | — | 0.481 | 7 | 9 | — | 0.438 | 1 | 2 | — | 0 | — | — |
Notes
- 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.
- 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.
- Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.
- When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.
- Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season.
- Louisiana did not field a team for the 1905 season.
- Louisiana vacated 22 wins from 2011 to 2014, including the 2011 and 2013 New Orleans Bowls and 2013 Sun Belt Conference co-championship, due to NCAA violations involving a former assistant. Without the vacated wins, Louisiana went 9–4 in each season between 2011 and 2014.
References
- Thamel, Pete (October 12, 2022). "Louisiana football coach Michael Desormeaux is the perfect fit with Ragin' Cajuns". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Johnson, Luke (October 11, 2015). "Exam fraud, recruit payments among NCAA accusations against ex-Cajuns assistant". The Advocate. Baton Rouge. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- Buckley, Tim (March 8, 2016). "Here's what games UL has vacated following NCAA probe". The Daily Advertiser. Lafayette, Louisiana. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
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