This spring, Louisiana Tech hired former Stephen F. Austin University athletic director Ryan Ivey to replace the departed Eric Wood. A former football player at Memphis himself, Ivey knows that his top priority in his first fall on the job is to get the football program competitive again after three consecutive 3-9 seasons.

Ivey discussed this in an exclusive interview with the Ruston Daily Leader this week.

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While chances of a postseason appearance aren’t the only thing that determines the program’s success, Ivey made it clear that standing still isn’t the answer. Five of LA Tech’s nine losses last season were by two points or more.

“First, we have to win the games we’re supposed to win,” Ivey noted. “If we’re the better team and we have the opportunity, we have to win the games we’re supposed to win. And then the games we’re not supposed to win, where we’re competitive and put ourselves in a position to be successful at the end of the games. Those are the things we’re definitely going to look at.”

Prior to Cumbie’s hiring, the Bulldogs were coached by current Birmingham Stallions (UFL) head coach Skip Holtz. Holtz led the Bulldogs to seven bowl games with six wins in nine seasons at the helm. Ivey, head coach Sonny Cumbie and many other Bulldogs stakeholders are keen to make this a regular occurrence again, or at least a possibility.

“I think for me right now, you definitely have to be in the bowl games and have a chance to play in bowl games and play in the postseason,” Ivey said when asked to define success for LA Tech’s football program.

The Bulldogs open the season on August 31st by hosting FCS Nicholls.