Louisiana Fires Head Coach After 3-9 Start to the Season, Begins National Search for New Coach

LAFAYETTE, La. (103.3 The GOAT) - The Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team is undergoing a major leadership change right as conference play begins.

The University of Louisiana announced on Thursday that long-time head coach Bob Marlin is being relieved of his duties as head coach. Assistant coach Derrick Zimmermann will take over as coach in the interim.

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"A Change Was Necessary"

Dr. Bryan Maggard, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics at UL, made the announcement on Thursday afternoon.

“After an on-going evaluation of our men’s basketball program, it was decided a change was necessary,” Maggard said in his statement. “These decisions are never easy, and this one was not made hastily. I am extremely grateful for the leadership Bob Marlin has provided the past several years. We wish he and his family all the best moving forward.”

A national search will take place for a new head coach, the University confirmed in the announcement.

Struggles in Non-Conference

The Cajuns are 3-9 on the season so far, having just picked up their third win of the season in a conference opener against App State on Wednesday night.

The men's basketball team had a seven-game stretch of losses after winning their preseason opener against Louisiana Christian, losing to Kent State, and then beating UT-Dallas. Those losses included a nationally-ranked Houston and a very tough Liberty University.

The Cajuns snapped that losing streak with a win over Southeastern Louisiana University, but then dropped the following game against Lamar. After that came the conference opener against App State.

New Year, New Leadership

The Cajuns' last game of 2024 will be Sunday afternoon against McNeese State University. Then, they'll start 2025 on the road with a January 2 road trip to Coastal Carolina.

Zimmermann is in his third season with the Cajuns. According to his bio at ragincajuns.com, he "enters his third season as an assistant coach for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns after spending the previous three seasons on the staff at Mississippi State."

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Zimmerman is a native of Monroe, Louisiana, and helped Mississippi State to three straight postseason trips as an athlete. Then, as a coach, he was the Bulldogs' Director of Scouting & Analytics while also heading the oversight of the program’s video operations and statistical metrics.