On January 20th, five days after Derek Dooley made the step up to the Vols, Louisiana Tech announced the hire of Sonny Dykes as the new head coach of the Bulldogs.

Dykes is the son of the Texas Tech coaching legend Spike Dykes. Since entering NCAAF coaching in 1996, he has held positions at Kentucky, UL-Monroe, Texas Tech, and most recently at Arizona, where he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

In 2006, he was presented with the Mike Campbell Top Assistant Award, and in 2009, he was a top candidate for the Broyles Award, which goes to the nation's top assistant coach.

In 2007, his first year at Arizona, Dykes led the Wildcats to all-new offensive records, including a school-high 308 yards per game.

Dykes' own game experience comes not from the gridiron but from the diamond; he played baseball for three years at Texas Tech.

He heavily favors the spread offense and is optimistic about Louisiana's 2010 season and plans to jump on the recruiting class before National Signing Day rolls around. He was ranked in the Top Ten recruiters by Rivals.com.

This is his first head coaching job, and he looks like he plans to stay. Louisiana Tech can breathe easy now with the pre-season schedule looming, now that Dykes has taken the wheel.

We hope for a great season, led by Sonny Dykes, from the foundation laid by Derek Dooley, to start down the road again to national prominence.

Go Dawgs!