By MALCOLM BUTLER, Lincoln Parish Journal
RUSTON — Louisiana Tech officially opened preseason football practice Wednesday morning, and before the Bulldogs took the field, head coach Sonny Cumbie said his team is happy to be under the radar in its new conference home.
Tech has departed Conference USA and begins Sun Belt Conference competition this season. The Bulldogs are picked fourth in the seven-team West Division of the 14-team conference.
Troy, UL Lafayette and Arkansas State were ahead of Cumbie’s fifth Tech team. Southern Miss, South Alabama and ULM were behind the Bulldogs, who filled only two spots on the Preseason All-SBC Team announced last month.
As the Bulldogs began preparations for the 2026 season after finishing 8-5 a year ago and defeating Coastal Carolina in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, Cumbie embraced his team being relatively unknown in its new territory.
“Our advantage is we feel pretty good about who we have, and I don’t think there’s not a lot of knowledge about us with the other teams,” he said. “Our players are excited.”
The Tech defense has been stout each of the past two seasons and once again, the front seven will be pivotal.
“On defense, it’s definitely the linebackers and D-line,” Cumbie said. “They’re the strength in terms of returners. Guys that have played, known production, big-time playmakers, and so we feel great about that room.”
The Bulldogs’ only first-team Preseason All-Sun Belt selection was linebacker Kolbe Fields, a grad student from New Orleans who was previously at South Carolina and LSU before a breakout 2024 season at Tech. He was the preseason Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year but a leg injury cut his season to four complete games and 39 tackles.
Cumbie said the position group’s makeup gives it a chance to lead the defense throughout the season.
“When I think of our linebackers, I think of football players,” Cumbie said. “Those guys are football players. They love to practice. They’re smart, instinctive, they play downhill and they make a lot of plays. They undoubtedly are the strength of our defense, and I’m excited to see them elevate the group.”
The offense will be led by quarterback Blake Baker, coming off a late-season knee injury, and second-team Preseason All-SBC tight end Eli Finley. While the Bulldogs had a yard-churning running attack last year, there is a big gap to fill there.
Tech must replace its top four rushing leaders among running backs from last season, leaving the starting job up for grabs entering preseason camp.
“I think Jaden Miller and (Ruston High product) Dylone Brooks really, at the end of spring, asserted themselves there,” Cumbie said. “Dylon’s had a really good spring, and so I’m excited about those two.”
Brooks is a sophomore with little game experience. Miller, a junior transfer, starred for the Keiser Seahawks at the NAIA level, running for 1,127 yards and 18 touchdowns, and finished his career with over 1,600 yards with 24 scores.
“I think you’d love to have a situation at some point during fall camp where you go into that first game and this is our starter and this is the guy that’s going to carry the load,” Cumbie said. “Right now that would be Miller and Brooks.
“They’ve got to continue to improve in pass protection, certainly. That’s the area I think they can take a big jump during fall camp.”
Blending returners with the transfer portal class and high school recruits benefits from a large group of veteran players, he said.
“The journey undoubtedly started for our football team back in January,” Cumbie said. “I think the core, the nucleus of this team returning is the benefit, if we allow it to be a benefit. If they pour into these younger players and challenge them, we’ve got some difference-makers, and they need to be different every day in practice.
“Our guys are prepared. They’re going to practice fast. They’re going to practice really well together.”
Tech kicks off the season at home Sept. 5 against Northwestern State, then goes to LSU a week later, then west to Baylor in Week 3.