Football: Hudspeth To Receive Collegiate Coach Award From New Orleans Touchdown Club

NEW ORLEANS – Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns head football coach Mark Hudspeth, along with FOX NFL analyst Terry Bradshaw, veteran Louisiana prep coach Tim Detillier and journalist/TV analyst John DeShazier will be honored for their contributions to football by The Touchdown Club of New Orleans at a banquet on March 7 at the Windsor Court (300 Gravier St.) Hotel.
 
Tickets are available by calling The Touchdown Club at (504) 242-4545. Mike Detillier, co-host of WWL-AM/FM radio’s "Second Guess" show, will serve as master of ceremonies.
 
Hudspeth, who will enter his fifth season as head coach of Louisiana in 2015, was named the Collegiate Award recipient and joins a list of recipients that includes current NCAA coaches Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech), Brian Kelly (Notre Dame), Les Miles (LSU), Urban Meyer (Ohio State), Tommy Tuberville (Cincinnati) and Nick Saban (Alabama).
 
Hudspeth has guided his teams to a 102-37 record in 11 seasons as a collegiate head coach, including a 36-16 mark at Louisiana. Under Hudspeth, the Ragin’ Cajuns produced the best four-year record in program history and became the first school in NCAA history to win the same bowl game (R�L Carriers New Orleans Bowl) four consecutive years.
 
With bowl victories in each of the past four seasons, the Ragin’ Cajuns are one of five schools in the country to accomplish that feat joining Michigan State, Oregon, South Carolina and Texas A&M. And during that same four-year span, the Ragin’ Cajuns join Oregon as the only schools in the nation to win nine-plus game, including a bowl victory.
 
Under Hudspeth, the Cajuns have been dominant on their home turf posting an 18-4 record in four seasons. With an exciting brand of football, attendance at Cajun Field has risen with seven of the top 15 single-game attendance marks in school history occurring since Hudspeth’s arrival.
 
In three of Hudspeth’s first four seasons, the Cajuns have led the Sun Belt Conference in average attendance while posting the three highest single-season marks in school history, highlighted by a single-season average of 29,171 fans in 2011.
 
Since Hudspeth’s arrival in Lafayette, 36 players have been named to the All-Sun Belt Conference team with running back Elijah McGuire being selected as the league’s Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year in 2014. Two players – Alonzo Harris (2011) and McGuire (2013) – were named the league’s Freshman of the Year, while McGuire earned Freshman All-America honors after a solid inaugural campaign in 2013.
 
While the Ragin’ Cajuns have excelled on the field under Hudspeth, they have also thrived in the classroom. In seven semesters under Hudspeth dating back to 2011, the Cajuns have turned in six of the best team grade point averages dating back to 1982. During the 2013-14 academic year, the Ragin’ Cajuns were one of 16 teams honored by the Sun Belt Conference for excellence in the classroom, earning the league’s Team Academic Award.
 
The Cajuns success in the classroom was evident during the Fall 2014 semester as the team posted the highest semester grade point average (2.923) in school history, and the sixth consecutive semester of earning a team GPA of 2.6 or better. Sixty-five student-athletes earned a 3.0 GPA during the semester with six earning a perfect 4.0 and 11 earning their degree.
 
The Touchdown Club of New Orleans College Award Recipients
2015 – Mark Hudspeth, Head Coach, Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
2014 – Frank Beamer, Head Coach, Virginia Tech Hokies
2013 – Brian Kelly, Head Coach, Notre Dame Fighting Irish
2012 – Les Miles, Head Coach LSU Tigers
2011 – Urban Meyer, former Head Coach, Florida Gators
2010 – Phillip Fulmer, former Head Coach, Tennessee Volunteers
2009 – Gene Stallings, former Head Coach, Alabama Crimson Tide
2008 – Vince Dooley, former Head Coach & AD, Georgia Bulldogs
2007 – Bobby Bowden, Head Coach, Florida State Seminoles
2005 – Tommy Tuberville, Head Coach, Auburn Tigers
2004 – Nick Saban, Head Coach, LSU Tigers