Louisiana Tech announced that its has fired Skip Holtz as their head football coach. Here is a look at the Louisiana Tech football program since 2008 (the first year that of complete data I have). This time period only covers the last two seasons of head football coach Derek Dooley (2008-2009), Sonny Dykes (2010-2012), and Skip Holtz (2013-2021). After the figure below is a more detailed look at the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football program during head coach Holtz's tenure based on the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model using data provided by www.cfbstats.com. (The vertical school color bars represent seasons where head coaches changed).
Skip Holtz [contract]
2013
Louisiana Tech finished the regular season at 4-8, and were bowl ineligible. The Bulldogs
played against a “much easier” strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning that the Bulldogs SOS was higher than two standard deviations above the "league" average SOS. Louisiana Tech's best
regular season victory was against #116 ranked UTEP (38-35)
and their worst
loss was to #114 ranked Kansas (10-13). Louisiana Tech was the #88 ranked team overall, with the #100 ranked
offense and the #67 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2014 [CUSA runner-up]
Louisiana Tech finished the regular season at 8-4, and played in the CUSA Championship game where they were defeated by #5 ranked Marshall and played in a bowl game, where they defeated #93 ranked Illinois (35-18) to finish at 9-5 overall. The Bulldogs
played against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning that the Bulldogs SOS was plus or minus one standard deviation from the "leagues" average SOS. Louisiana Tech's best
regular season victory was against #48 ranked Kentucky (59-10)
and their worst
loss was to FCS Northwestern State (27-30). Louisiana Tech was the #9 ranked team overall, with the #17 ranked
offense and the #19 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2015
Louisiana Tech finished the regular season at 8-4, and were bowl
eligible, where they defeated #77 ranked Arkansas State (47-28) to finish at 9-4 overall. The Bulldogs
played against an “easier” strength
of schedule (SOS), meaning the Bulldogs SOS was between one and two standard deviations higher than the "leagues" average SOS. Louisiana Tech's best
regular season victory was against #56 ranked Middle Tennessee State (45-16)
and their worst
loss was to #113 ranked Kansas State (33-39). Louisiana Tech was the #19 ranked team overall, with the #16 ranked
offense and the #45 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2016 [CUSA runner-up]
Louisiana Tech finished the regular season at 8-4, and played in the CUSA Championship game where they were defeated by #10 ranked Western Kentucky and played in a bowl game,
where they defeated by #40 ranked Navy by a score of (48-45).
The Bulldogs
played against an “easier” strength
of schedule (SOS). Louisiana Tech's best
regular season victory was against #10 ranked Western Kentucky (55-52)
and their worst
loss was to #96 ranked Texas Tech (45-59). Louisiana Tech was the #23 ranked team overall, with the #4 ranked
offense and the #111 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2017
Louisiana Tech finished the regular season at 6-6, and were bowl
eligible, where they defeated #75 ranked SMU (51-10) to finish at 7-6 overall. The Bulldogs
played against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS). Louisiana Tech's best
regular season victory was against #38 ranked UTSA (20-6)
and their worst
loss was to #77 ranked North Texas (23-24). Louisiana Tech was the #54 ranked team overall, with the #49 ranked
offense and the #67 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2018
Louisiana Tech finished the regular season at 7-5, and were bowl eligible
where they defeated #107 Hawaii (31-14) to finish 8-5 overall. The Bulldogs
played against an “easier” strength
of schedule (SOS). Louisiana Tech's best
regular season victory was against #38 ranked North Texas (29-27)
and their worst
loss was to #99 ranked Western Kentucky (15-30). Louisiana Tech was the #53 ranked team overall, with the #85 ranked
offense and the #31 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
Louisiana Tech finished the regular season at 9-3, and were bowl eligible, where they defeated #33 ranked Miami (FL) by a score of (14-0) to finish the season at 10-3 overall. The Bulldogs
played against a “much easier” strength
of schedule (SOS). Louisiana Tech's best
regular season victory was against #75 ranked Southern Mississippi (45-30)
and their worst
loss was to #59 ranked Texas (14-45). Louisiana Tech was the #25 ranked team overall, with the #22 ranked
offense and the #36 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2020
Louisiana Tech finished the COVID-19 shortened regular season at 5-4, playing against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS), and played in a bowl game where they lost to #19 ranked Georgia Southern (3-38). Louisiana Tech's
best regular season victory was against #21 ranked UAB (37-34) and their worst
loss was to #36 ranked TCU (10-52). Louisiana Tech was the #104 ranked team overall, with the #70 ranked
offense and the #106 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
2021
After finishing 3-9, Holtz was fired. Louisiana Tech played against an “average” strength
of schedule (SOS) up to this point in the season. Louisiana Tech's best win was against currently ranked #66 North Texas by a
score of (24-17) and their worst regular season loss was to #114 ranked Southern Mississippi by a score of (19-35). Louisiana Tech is currently the #98 ranked team overall, with the #64 ranked
offense and the #113 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.
Butch Davis and Florida International