Cajuns Coach Likes Focus
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
Louisiana head football coach Mike Desormeaux didn’t address during a Tuesday noon press conference a preseason poll that shows his team is picked to finish second in one of two Sun Belt Conference divisions in 2026.
However Desormeaux admits he likes the preseason mindset and accountability that his players have shown before the Sept. 5 season opener against Lamar.
“This group really has been fun to work with. They’ve done everything that we’ve asked so far,” said Desormeaux, who has been the Cajuns’ head football coach since 2018.
During his season-opening address to the large media presence that gathered on the third floor of the stadium overlooking the Russo Field baseball diamond, Desormeaux touched on the different position groups for a team that has been selected as the West Division champion.
The Cajuns lost their top two running backs who left the program after entering the NCAA players portal.
Steven Blanco, a 213-pound running back, is expected to be the primary ball carrier – at least initially, while Lunch Winfield returns as the starting quarterback.
“Blanco grew up a lot after last season and he knows how to operate. Right now I feel really good about our running backs room,” Desormeaux pointed out.
“Our job is to try to get them better every day. The rest is up to them,” said Desormeaux.
Winfield, who became the starter at midseason in 2025, has been working hard to improve his consistency and throwing accuracy, Desormeaux said.
“Lunch has been a team leader ever since he got here, even when he wasn’t the starter,” Desormeaux added.
Initially Desormeaux likes his projected offensive line starters, since three of them return. What remains to be done, said Desormeaux, is create an o-line depth chart that will reflect depth in order to create an eight or nine player rotation at those five positions.
Offense Specifically
Offensive coordinator Tim Leger said the Cajuns are eager to reestablish a run-game identity which depends on the efficiency of the blocking scheme.
“We want to get our run game going again. Looking back, this program has developed a lot of NFL caliber running backs and that’s because of our offensive line,” Leger said.
The Cajuns possess two established tight ends, a position group that Leger said sometimes gets overlooked.
“The notion that we don’t throw to our tight ends is a little bit exaggerated at times. If we try to force throws to (the tight ends), that doesn’t always work,” Leger added.
Leger said the challenge with extracting improvement from Winfield is to emphasize that the quarterback needs to improve his decision making and take what the defense allows.
There is no question about what to expect from Winfield, Leger said.
“We all know who he is under the lights,” Leger pointed out.
The Cajuns have also sent a number of offensive linemen into the NFL since 2018, Leger said.
“I think history shows we have produced a number of NFL linemen and that shows who we want to be and that’s running the football,” Leger said.
On The Other Side
Defensive coordinator Jim Salgado is encouraged about his side of the ball since the majority of his starters are back.
What the defense has targeted during the offseason is better communication, Salgado said.
“Three years when I got here it took some time to figure out who was here. Now that has been solved and the first thing we began working on was our communication. We want to be black and white and no grey with our communication. It comes down to whatever is the call, we want to have everyone on the same page,” Salgado said.
In the secondary Salgado said he is encouraged that the Cajuns have a number of players who experienced a lot of repetitions in critical situations.
