University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Football
- Title:
- Offensive Coordinator/OL
Rob Sale enters his third season as the Offensive Coordinator for the Louisiana football program. Sale also coaches the offensive line for the Ragin’ Cajuns.
In his second season, Sale helped the Ragin’ Cajuns break numerous offensive school records, including total offense (6,918), total touchdowns (69), most rushing yards (3,604), most rushing touchdowns (42) and most passing touchdowns (27), among others.
The Ragin’ Cajuns’ production was powered by an offensive line unit that featured two NFL Draft picks in Robert Hunt and Kevin Dotson. Hunt became the third-highest draft pick in team history when he was selected 39th overall by the Miami Dolphins, while Dotson, who was named a First Team All-American by the Associated Press, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and Pro Football Focus and a Second Team All-American by Sporting News, was taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 135th pick.
Sale was instrumental in the development of O’Cyrus Torrence, who started in 13 of the team’s 14 games in 2019 before being named to the Football Writers Association of America-Shaun Alexander Freshman All-America Team.
Behind an offensive line that earned Joe Moore Award Honorable Mention recognition, Louisiana’s running attack proved to be one of the best in the country. Elijah Mitchell led the way, becoming the sixth running back in program history to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark with 1,147 yards and 16 touchdowns, the third-most scores in a single season in program history.
Quarterback Levi Lewis was equally as productive in Sale’s system, becoming first 3,000-yard passer in program history (3,050) and setting the single-season record for touchdown passes (26). His primary target was Ja’Marcus Bradley, who posted his second consecutive, 10-touchdown season after hauling in 60 passes for 906 yards.
In total, Sale saw six offensive players earn All-Sun Belt Conference honors and five players claim All-Louisiana honors.
In his first season guiding the Ragin’ Cajuns’ offense, the team put up stellar numbers behind a three-headed rushing attack of Trey Ragas, Elijah Mitchell and Raymond Calais. Each member of the trio rushed for over 700+ yards, paced by Ragas’ 1,149 yards on the ground and his nine touchdowns, while Mitchell led the Sun Belt and ranked 24th in FBS with 16 touchdowns after rushing for 985 yards of his own. Calais also impressed under Sale’s system, tallying 754 yards and seven scores, highlighted by a school-record, 92-yard touchdown scamper against Georgia State.
Sale helped guide quarterback Andre Nunez to a career year, throwing for 2,272 yards and 20 touchdowns in 14 games. Levi Lewis also saw plenty of time under center, completing 37 of his 59 attempts for 585 yards and seven touchdowns. Ja’Marcus Bradley proved to be the quarterback tandem’s top receiving threat, hauling in 40 passes for 608 yards and 10 touchdowns, the most since the Dave Oliver hauled in 10 touchdowns during the 1976 season.
Paving the way for Louisiana’s aerial and ground attacks was a staunch offensive line, which remained consistent throughout the season with five player starting all 14 games. The group was led by Kevin Dotson, who garnered First Team All-Sun Belt Conference honors, and Robert Hunt, who was named Second Team All-Conference.
Under Sale in year one, the Ragin’ Cajuns had six offensive players earn All-Conference recognition and three named Player of the Week throughout the season. The team produced 5,940 total yards, gaining 6.6 yards per play, and scored 58 touchdowns.
Sale brought in 12 years of experience as an offensive line coach after serving as the offensive line coach/running game coordinator under Napier for the Sun Devils in 2017. While at Arizona State, the Sun Devils averaged 31.9 points per game while racking up an average of 427.6 yards of total offense including 179.9 yards per game on the ground.
Before his stint at ASU, Sale was at ULM as the offensive line coach in 2016. During his time there, the Warhawks ranked third in the Sun Belt in rushing, averaging 181.3 yards per game, while finishing in the upper half of the 11-team league in fewest quarterback sacks allowed (19).
Sale served as offensive line coach at Georgia in 2015, where the Bulldogs averaged 375 yards total offense per game. The Georgia offensive line – led by All-SEC First-Team offensive tackle John Theus – paved the way for more than 190 rushing yards per game as part of the overall 375 yards in total offense per game.
Prior to joining the staff at Georgia, Sale spent three seasons at McNeese State serving as the offensive line coach for the Cowboys from 2012-13 before being elevated to cooffensive coordinator in 2014.
In his final season with McNeese, the Cowboys offense averaged 32.4 points per game, 396.5 total yards per game, 221.9 yards per game rushing and 174.6 yards per game passing.
In 2013 Sale help mold the offensive line into one of the best in the league despite having two players switch from the defensive side. Three of the five starting linemen earned All-Southland Conference honors - Arinze Agada (First Team), Quentin Marsh and Nick Gorman (Honorable Mention). Agada was named the Southland Conference’s Offensive Lineman of the Year, earned Southland Conference AllAcademic honors, was named a FCS ADA Academic All-Star, earned First Team All-Louisiana honors, and was named to four postseason All-America teams (Associated Press, Sports Network, College Sports Madness, Beyond Sports Network).
Sale gained his first college coaching experience at Alabama from 2007-11 serving as a strength and conditioning assistant and offensive analyst. He began his coaching career in the high school ranks as the offensive line coach at Catholic High of Pointe Coupee in 2006.
Sale played collegiately at LSU where he appeared in 35 career games with 25 starts, including 13 at right guard as a senior in 2002. As a junior he saw starting action at both center and guard when the Tigers won the SEC title. During his sophomore season, he appeared at left guard where started the final five games of the regular season as well as the Peach Bowl.
In high school, Sale was a four-year letterwinner and two-time All-State selection (junior and senior seasons) as an offensive lineman at Neville High School.
Sale and his wife Amanda have two sons, Tripp and Briggs.
