Sonny Cumbie
Sonny Cumbie went 25–36 as a head coach, 2021–2026, at Texas Tech and Louisiana Tech. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 3–2); by them his record is 24–36. Share
- Record
- 25–36 career
- Seasons
- 6
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Aug 8, 1981
- Best season
- 2026 4–2
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Texas Tech interim, remainder of season | 2–3 | 9th | Liberty Bowl W | ||
| 2022 | Louisiana Tech | 3–9 | T–9th | |||
| 2023 | Louisiana Tech | 3–9 | T–6th | |||
| 2024 | Louisiana Tech | 5–8 | 5th | Independence Bowl L | ||
| 2025 | Louisiana Tech | 8–5 | T–4th | Independence Bowl W | ||
| 2026 | Louisiana Tech | 4–2 (Wikipedia: 3–2) |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 7 | 0–7 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 6 | 0–6 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 6 | 5–1 | 83% |
| Conference games | 38 | 16–22 | 42% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 3 | 2–1 | 67% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 23 | 8–15 | 35% |
| At home | 28 | 18–10 | 64% |
| On the road | 29 | 5–24 | 17% |
| At neutral sites | 4 | 2–2 | 50% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 27 | 17–10 | 63% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 34 | 8–26 | 24% |
His own 61 games on file, 2021–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike MacIntyre 2022–2024 | 1–2 | Florida International | 3 | |
| Tyson Helton 2023–2025 | 1–2 | Western Kentucky | 3 |
Sonny Cumbie’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| UTEPseries | 4 | 4–0 |
| Middle Tennesseeseries | 3 | 2–1 |
| Western Kentuckyseries | 3 | 1–2 |
| New Mexico Stateseries | 3 | 1–2 |
| Florida Internationalseries | 3 | 1–2 |
| Sam Houstonseries | 3 | 1–2 |
| Northwestern Stateseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Kennesaw Stateseries | 2 | 1–1 |
Also a player: Sonny Cumbie’s playing career.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | San Angelo Stampede Express | Head coach | |
| 2009–10 | Texas Tech | Graduate assistant | |
| 2011–12 | Texas Tech | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2013 | Texas Tech | Co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| 2014–16 | TCU | Co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2017–20 | TCU | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2021 | Texas Tech | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2021 | Texas Tech | Interim head coach | |
| 2022–present | Louisiana Tech | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Mike LeachTexas Tech
- Ruffin McNeillTexas Tech
- Tommy TubervilleTexas Tech
- Chris ThomsenTexas Tech
- Kliff KingsburyTexas Tech
- Gary PattersonTCU
- Matt WellsTexas Tech
Assistants who became head coaches
- Keith PattersonPittsburgh, Abilene Christian
- Nick HoltIdaho
- Scott ParrNavarro, Texas A&M–Kingsville
- Scott PowerCentral Washington
- Jeremiah JohnsonCoastal Carolina
Worked under (7)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Leach | Texas Tech | 2009 | Graduate assistant | |
| Ruffin McNeill | Texas Tech | 2009 | Graduate assistant | |
| Tommy Tuberville | Texas Tech | 2010–12 | 2010: graduate assistant; 2011–12: wide receivers coach | |
| Chris Thomsen | Texas Tech | 2012 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Kliff Kingsbury | Texas Tech | 2013 | Co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| Gary Patterson | TCU | 2014–20 | 2014–16: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2017–20: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Matt Wells | Texas Tech | 2021 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (5)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Patterson | Texas Tech, 2021: defensive coordinator | Pittsburgh, Abilene Christian | |
| Nick Holt | Texas Tech, 2021: offensive analyst | Idaho | |
| Scott Parr | Louisiana Tech, 2022–24: co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | Navarro, Texas A&M–Kingsville | |
| Scott Power | Louisiana Tech, 2022–23: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Central Washington | |
| Jeremiah Johnson | Louisiana Tech, 2024: defensive coordinator | Coastal Carolina |
Other assistants under him (11)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| David Yost | Texas Tech, 2021: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Derek Jones | Texas Tech, 2021: assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| Joel Filani | Texas Tech, 2021: wide receivers coach | |
| Kevin Cosgrove | Texas Tech, 2021: linebackers coach | |
| Paul Randolph | Texas Tech, 2021: defensive line coach; Louisiana Tech, 2025–26: defensive line coach | |
| Jake Brown | Louisiana Tech, 2022–23: co-offensive coordinator | |
| Jeff Burris | Louisiana Tech, 2024: co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Nathan Young | Louisiana Tech, 2024: co-offensive coordinator; 2026: offensive coordinator | |
| Luke Olson | Louisiana Tech, 2025–26: defensive coordinator | |
| Tony Franklin | Louisiana Tech, 2025: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Dexter McCoil | Louisiana Tech, 2026: safeties coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Cumbie’s teams went for it on 24% of fourth downs and on 48% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 51% of plays and took 26.3 seconds a play, 2022–2026.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 12 g | 28 of 98 29% | 44% | 56% | 25.8 | 0.00 | |
| 2023 12 g | 29 of 98 30% | 51% | 56% | 25.6 | +0.01 | |
| 2024 13 g | 25 of 112 22% | 51% | 52% | 26.7 | −0.10 | |
| 2025 13 g | 16 of 97 16% | 42% | 40% | 27.0 | −0.01 | |
| 2026 6 g | 11 of 40 28% | 53% | 50% | 26.5 | +0.11 | |
| All 56 g | 109 of 445 24% | 48% | 51% | 26.3 | −0.01 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.