Lance Guidry (born March 25, 1971) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player. He is a defensive analyst at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. He was previously the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida and is located southwest of Greater Downtown Miami, Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

from 2023 to 2024. Guidry served as the head football coach at McNeese State University from 2016 to 2018. He was also the interim head football coach at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion ...

for one game in 2010 and at

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University (WKU) is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a few decades earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glas ...

for one game in 2012. Guidry played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

at McNeese State from 1990 to 1993. He was a four-year starter, a team captain, and a two-time All-

Southland Conference The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...

selection. Guidry ranks 17th on the McNeese all-time tackle leader board and also 10th in interceptions.

Coaching career

Miami (OH)

Guidry served as defensive backs coach for Miami during its 2010 MAC championship season. That season Miami orchestrated the second largest turnaround in the history of college football going 10–4 after winning just one game (1–11) the year before. Head coach Michael Haywood left the team prior to the team's

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

. Guidry served as interim head coach for Go-Daddy.com Bowl, leading the Redhawks to a 35–21 victory over

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...

Western Kentucky

After the Go-Daddy.com Bowl victory, Guidry became

. By his second season (2012), Guidry's defense was #1 in the Sun Belt Conference and 26th nationally. That year Western Kentucky earned its first-ever bowl invite (Little Caesar's Bowl) since its transition to the FBS Level. Head Coach Willie Taggart left prior to the Little Caesar's Bowl, and once again Guidry was tabbed as the Interim Head Coach for the bowl game, where the Hilltoppers lost a tight game to Central Michigan in the waning minutes of the 4th quarter (24–21).

McNeese State

In 2013, Guidry returned to his alma mater to become the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys. Guidry's presence was immediately felt as McNeese won 10 games for the first time six years and made the FCS playoffs for the first time in four years. In his third season, Guidry's defense ranked 12th nationally in total defense, 3rd in scoring defense and 4th in rushing defense - leading the way for McNeese's perfect regular season (10–0) and 2015 Southland Conference Championship. After the 2015 season, head coach Matt Viator left McNeese to become head coach at Louisiana-Monroe and Guidry was named as the 15th head coach in McNeese State history. After three winning seasons, on November 20, 2018, it was announced that Guidry's contract would not be renewed.

After McNeese

Guidry spent the 2019 season as the defensive coordinator at Southeastern Louisiana. The following season, Guidry re-united with Willie Taggart as the safeties coach on Taggart's Florida Atlantic staff.

Marshall

In January 2021, it was announced that Guidry would be joining Charles Huff's inaugural staff at

Marshall University Marshall University is a public university, public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the Uni ...

as the Thundering Herd's defensive coordinator. Guidry's 2022 Marshall defense finished the season ranked in the top 10 nationally in 12 different defensive categories, helping guide the Herd to an 8–4 regular season record.

Tulane

On January 20, 2023, it was announced that Guidry was hired as the defensive coordinator for the 2023 Tulane Green Wave football team, replacing the outgoing Chris Hampton.

Miami

However, on February 7, 2023, the Associated Press reported that the

would be hiring him as defensive coordinator. Over two seasons at Miami, the Hurricanes posted records of 7-6 in 2023 and 10-3 in 2024. Despite the improved record, much of the success in 2024 was attributed to Heisman runner-up quarterback Cam Ward, whose stellar play carried the team. Meanwhile, the defense, under Guidry’s leadership, struggled significantly, giving up 42 points to Syracuse during the regular season and 41 points to Iowa State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. The defensive unit’s poor performance became a focal point of fan criticism. On December 31, 2024, the University of Miami announced that Guidry had been fired as the team’s defensive coordinator.

LSU

On January 28, 2025, it was announced that Guidry was hired as a defensive analyst for the LSU Tigers. File:Lance_Guidry_-_2015_SLC_Champs.jpg, Lance Guidry – 2015 SLC Champs File:Lance_Guidry_&_Family.jpg, Lance Guidry & Family

Head coaching record

College

Notes

References

External links

*
Florida Atlantic profile

LSU profile

Miami (FL) profile

Marshall profile

McNeese State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guidry, Lance 1971 births Living people American football defensive backs Florida Atlantic Owls football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches Marshall Thundering Herd football coaches Miami Hurricanes football coaches Miami RedHawks football coaches McNeese Cowboys football coaches McNeese Cowboys football players Southeastern Louisiana Lions football coaches Tulane Green Wave football coaches Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football coaches High school football coaches in Louisiana People from Welsh, Louisiana Coaches of American football from Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana