Louisiana Tech Head Coach Sonny Cumbie spoke on a variety of topics at the Sun Belt Conference Media Days last week in New Orleans.
He opened with his thoughts on Louisiana Tech joining the conference, joking that he was happy that the Bulldogs wouldn’t have to play 24 games. Before Tech officially joined the Sun Belt, the Bulldogs appeared on schedules of both Sun Belt and Conference USA teams. Louisiana Tech departed CUSA after 13 years.
“It made our offseason a little hectic but I think just a tremendous opportunity and very appreciative of Commissioner (Keith) Gill and the Sun Belt for having the same vision for our institution as what we have from the standpoint of being part of this great conference, the Sun Belt,” Cumbie said. “In terms of regional rivalries, a conference from a football respect and recognition standpoint that is one of the top in the country.”
Being able to have regional rivalries against teams like ULM, Louisiana and Southern Miss were was a big factor in Louisiana Tech’s decision to join the conference.
The Bulldogs face ULM for the first time in 26 years on Oct. 17 in Monroe.
“For over 26 years we haven’t played them and I’ve always wondered a little bit why,” Cumbie said. “Right down the road from one another. And now we’re playing each other in a conference game. It’s going to have a lot of impact.
“And so typically as I’ve gone through the state of Louisiana when we’re talking to alumni and lettermen, any time we played a school within the state and it was typically a non-conference game it was you better win this game, you better beat this team. And now, you look at our schedule and that being said about a lot of our games.
“And ULM, you’re 30 minutes down the road. We have a lot of alumni that live there. There’s a lot of crossover. I think that there are probably few coaches in the country that have done a better job than (ULM Head Coach) Bryant (Vincent). He’s a phenomenal football coach. He’s done a tremendous job. And when you think about a ball coach you think coach you think about Bryant Vincent.
“Now for our kids to be able to play each other and compete in a conference game, I think the environment is going to be electric. We play over there. We get to stay in our home hotel and then drive over there the day of the game. And our fan base is excited about going over there. There a lot of bragging rights on an annual basis from that standpoint.”