Mark Hudspeth New Head Football Coach

In December, Mark Hudspeth, former associate head coach at Mississippi State and former head coach of Louisiana, was named the 20th head football coach at Austin Peay. Hudspeth came to Austin Peay after spending the 2018 season as the associate head coach and tight ends coach at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs finished the regular season 8-4 and ranked No. 18 in the College Football Playoff poll.

He has 16 years of head coaching experience at the FBS, NCAA Division II and high school levels, and his teams went a combined 142-60 with him at the helm. Prior to joining Joe Moorhead's staff at Mississippi State, Hudspeth spent seven seasons (2011-17) as the head coach of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns. In each of his first four seasons, the Ragin' Cajuns finished 9-4, with victories in the New Orleans Bowl in each of those seasons. The 2011 victory in the New Orleans Bowl was the program's first bowl appearance since 1970. The Cajuns appeared in the New Orleans Bowl again following the 2016 season.