TheLouisiana Ragin' Cajunscollege football team represents theUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette in theSun Belt Conference. The Ragin' Cajuns compete as part of theNCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 27 head coaches since it began play during the1901 season. Since December 2021,Michael Desormeaux has served as head coach at Louisiana.[1]
Five coaches have led Louisiana in postseasonbowl games:Louis Whitman,Russ Faulkinberry,Mark Hudspeth,Billy Napier, and Desormeaux. Seven coaches have wonconference championships:Johnny Cain andLouis Whitman each captured one as a member of theLouisiana Intercollegiate Conference; Faulkinberry captured three andRaymond Didier one as a member of theGulf States Conference;Nelson Stokley captured two as a member of theBig West Conference; and Napier captured two andRickey Bustle one as a member of theSun 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 theCollege Football Hall of Fame.
| 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 theCollege Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overallwinning percentage[A 4] | ||||
| No. | Name | Season(s) [A 6] | 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 | Richard 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 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 0.609 | — | — | — | 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 [A 7] | 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 | 54 | 29 | 25 | — | 0.537 | 19 | 13 | — | 0.594 | 1 | 4 | — | 0 | — | — |