Sports

Coach Hud is suddenly a ‘loser’ (on paper)

by Walter Pierce

Ragin’ Cajuns head football coach Mark Hudspeth’s winning percentage in five years at the helm shifted this week from .625 to .429.

[Editor's Note: Vacated wins, we've been informed, do not become losses but rather are not counted in a coaches win-loss record. This story has been corrected to reflect that.]

UL Lafayette announced Thursday that, per an agreement with the National Collegiate Athletics Association stemming from an investigation into allegations that a former assistant coach helped a few players obtain favorable college-admission test scores to make them eligible to take the field in vermilion and white, the school will vacate 22 wins over head coach Mark Hudspeth's first four seasons. The vacated victories include a pair of New Orleans Bowl wins and the team’s 2013 co-Sun Belt Conference championship.

The university determined that eight wins in 2011, four in 2012, eight in 2013 and two in 2014 will be abandoned. The statistics of eligible players who participated in those games, however, will stand.

Having gone 9-4 his first four seasons as the Cajuns head honcho, winning the New Orleans Bowl as the Sun Belt Conference representative each of those years, followed by a disappointed 4-8 record last season, Hudspeth has compiled a 40-24 record or respectable .625 winning percentage. That record plummets on paper to 18-24 or a .429 winning percentage following the university vacating 22 wins. That's a great batting average in baseball.

“While it is disappointing to vacate these victories and championships, we finally put this chapter behind us and will continue to grow our championship football program,” UL Athletic Director Scott Farmer said in a statement released Thursday. “We stand behind the integrity and accomplishments of Coach Mark Hudspeth, members of his coaching staff and each of our student-athletes who played football during the Hudspeth era.”

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