[14] Northwestern State quarterbacks coach Joe Aillet took over the Bulldogs football program in 1940, leading the team through the 1966 season.

[19] Lambright also coached quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who caused a media frenzy on account of his reputation of being a football sensation from nearby Shreveport.

By the end of the season, Bradshaw led his team to a 9–2 record and the NCAA College Division Mideast Region championship, earning a 33–13 win over Akron in the Grantland Rice Bowl.

His decrease in production was mainly due to a reduced 10–game schedule, and the fact that he was taken out of several games in the second half because the Bulldogs had built up a huge lead.

Bradshaw graduated owning virtually all Louisiana Tech passing records at the time and would go on to enjoy a Hall of Fame professional football career quarterbacking the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers.

In 1971, Tech finished with a number 4 ranking in the final Division II poll, and a win over Eastern Michigan in the Pioneer Bowl.

[37] Beightol was fired after a 1–9 start to the 1979 season[38], and endured mass defections from players who had previously competed in the last two Independence Bowls.

The Bulldogs then advanced to the 1984 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game, falling to Montana State, 19–6, and finishing with an overall record of 10–5 for the season.

[47] Torbush elected to leave Tech for the defensive coordinator position at North Carolina under head coach Mack Brown after the 1987 season.

[57] The following season saw a step back in terms of record, with the team going 6–6,[58] although one bright spot was senior wide receiver Troy Edwards.

[59] This season resulted in Edwards receiving the Fred Biletnikoff Award and Paul Warfield Trophy, as well as getting recognized as a consensus first-team All-American.

Crowton left Louisiana Tech following the 1998 season to accept the position of offensive coordinator with the NFL's Chicago Bears.

When head coach Gary Crowton left to become the Chicago Bears' offensive coordinator in 1999, Bicknell was promoted to replace him.

[78] On January 20, 2010, Arizona offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes was hired to replace Dooley as the head football coach at Louisiana Tech.

[89] Despite this end to the season, the program still saw success through Ryan Allen becoming the school's first unanimous All–American, as well as the first punter to win the Ray Guy Award twice.

[85] Dykes resigned as Louisiana Tech head football coach following the 2012 season to accept the same position at California.

In the inaugural Division II football playoffs, Louisiana Tech beat Western Illinois in the quarterfinals and Boise State in the Pioneer Bowl semifinals.

Tech advanced to the championship game to beat Western Kentucky 34–0 and finished the season with a 12–1 record as 1973 NCAA Division II National Champions.

Louisiana Tech has produced an all-time postseason record of 19 wins, 8 losses, and 1 tie in 28 total appearances.

In addition to sharing multiple conferences for long stretches of time, the rivalry was played in Shreveport during the Louisiana State Fair from 1946 to 1987.

Led by quarterback Terry Bradshaw, the Bulldogs christened Louisiana Tech Stadium with a 35–7 victory over East Carolina on September 28, 1968.

In 2009 Louisiana Tech installed the largest high definition video board in the WAC covering 1,485 digital square feet behind the north end zone of the stadium at a cost of $2 million.

In 2017 the stadium added 202 Eaton Ephesus LED fixtures provided and installed by Geo-Surfaces, a sports lighting company based in Baton Rouge, LA.

Most notably, the plans also include the construction of a new 22,300-square foot student-athlete access center to be located at the north end of the stadium.

Louisiana Tech's regular season home attendance record of 43,279 was set in 2003 against the Miami Hurricanes in a nationally televised game on ESPN.

Inside the Davison Athletics Complex behind the south end of Joe Aillet Stadium stands a bronze Bulldog statue named the Spirit of '88.

In what was the nation's 11th toughest schedule that year, the Bulldogs faced five I-A bowl teams including Houston, Florida State and Texas A&M.

Those experiences likely played a key role in Tech finishing 4–6 the following year, its first in Division I-A, and then 8–3–1 in 1990 with an Independence Bowl berth.

The Bulldogs eventually reeled off 18 consecutive home victories, tying the all-time stadium record set by head coach Maxie Lambright's great teams of the early 1970s.

Two former head coaches, Joe Aillet and William Henry Dietz were inducted into the college football hall of fame.