Tommy Tate
Thomas Tate (born February 26, 1956) is an American football coach. He was the head football coach at McNeese State University from 2000 to 2006. He compiled a record of 49–26 led the McNeese State Cowboys to three consecutive Southland Conference titles, from 2001 to 2003. Tate was given the Eddie Robinson Award in 2002 as the coach of the year in NCAA Division I-AA, when he guided the Cowboys to a 13–2 record and an appearance in the CAA Division I-AA Football Championship, where his team finished as runners-up. Tate was fired in the middle of the 2006 season after the Cowboys started 1–3. He was replaced by Matt Viator, who coached McNeese to a 6–2 record the rest of the way (finishing 7–5) and earned the school another Southland Conference title.
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Athletic director |
| Team | Opelousas Catholic (LA) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | February 26, 1956 Washington, Louisiana |
| Playing career | |
| 1975–1978 | McNeese State |
| Position(s) | Defensive back |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1979–1999 | McNeese State (asst/DC) |
| 2000–2006 | McNeese State |
| 2007–2012 | Crowley HS (LA) |
| 2013–? | Opelousas Catholic (LA) (assistant) |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 2013–present | Opelousas Catholic (LA) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 49–26 (college) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 3 SLC (2001–2003) | |
| Awards | |
| Eddie Robinson Award (2002) SLC Coach of the Year (2003) | |
Early life
Tate hails from Washington, Louisiana. He graduated from Port Barre High School in Point Barre in 1974.
Head coaching record
College
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | TSN# | Coaches° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McNeese State Cowboys (Southland Conference) (2000–2006) | |||||||||
| 2000 | McNeese State | 8–4 | 5–2 | T–2nd | L NCAA Division I-AA First Round | 16 | 16 | ||
| 2001 | McNeese State | 8–4 | 5–1 | T–1st | L NCAA Division I-AA First Round | 13 | 13 | ||
| 2002 | McNeese State | 13–2 | 6–0 | 1st | L NCAA Division I-AA Championship | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2003 | McNeese State | 10–2 | 5–0 | 1st | L NCAA Division I-AA First Round | 8 | 7 | ||
| 2004 | McNeese State | 4–7 | 1–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 2005 | McNeese State | 5–4 | 3–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| 2006 | McNeese State | 1–3 | 0–0 | ||||||
| McNeese State: | 49–26 | 25–10 | |||||||
| Total: | 49–26 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||