Here comes the Son: Acadiana High turns to Doug Dotson to help maintain program’s status established by his father

by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor

Doug Dotson woke up Tuesday morning to a text message from his 88-year-old mother Jane who’s already looking forward to Acadiana High’s 2025 football season.

After watching her husband, legendary coach Bill Dotson, lead the Wrecking Rams for 24 seasons, she’ll get to watch Doug take over the reins of his alma mater and continue to build on his father’s legacy.

Doug Dotson was named head coach at Acadiana High after it was announced by the Lafayette Parish School Board that it had added former Rams’ coach Matt McCullough to its administrative staff.

“She’s excited,” Doug said. “She’s very proud and happy for me. She can’t wait for football season to start. She’s been at every game since I got here. She comes early. She wants to park close. She’s here when the gates open. She’s always been Acadiana (High). Always been green and gold for sure.”

Dotson’s first game home game as head coach will be Sept. 5 when Acadiana hosts Ruston at Bill Dotson Stadium. His father passed away at 69 years of age on Aug. 4, 2001, following a battle with cancer. 

“It’s going to be special, but it’s been special as an assistant coach,” Doug said. “I’ve never taken that for granted. When I was coaching (at Comeaux) and came over to play, it was always special to me. At the heart of it, it’s when they say, ‘Once a Ram, always a Ram’. Anybody that’s ever played for Acadiana knows that. They know what it means.

“Even when I was on that other sideline it was special to me to come home and play in the stadium,” Doug said. “It will be special. It’s been special the whole time. It will be fun. It will be neat, but it’s going to be the same feeling I had even when I was an assistant coach.”

The elder Dotson molded Acadiana into the program it has evolved into. He spent 24 years as the head football coach/athletic director, introducing a split-back veer offense in 1973 and an aggressive style defense he coined the ‘Terrible Turks’.

Fifty-one years later the veer offense remains a constant of Acadiana’s success along with the Terrible Turks defense and Doug Dotson wouldn’t have it any other way.

“The veer’s the veer,” he said. “There’s not a whole lot that’s going to change. That’s the thing about this ship. The rudder’s set. (Former head coaches) Bill Dotson, Ted Davidson, Willard Hanks, Matt McCullough, it never swayed from the direction that was set a long time ago. We’re still going to run the veer. We’ll play a brand of tough, hard-nosed defense that’s always been. That will continue.

“For me, it’s about carrying on the tradition that was started by some great men,” he said. “Whoever’s in this seat, it’s their job to keep the tradition going. That’s what I see as my duty, my job. To make sure this thing keeps going in the right direction.”

Matt McCullough, whose father Scott served alongside Bill Dotson for 16 years as offensive coordinator and 33 overall at the school, spent seven years as head coach and finished with a 77-15 overall record. Acadiana won two of its six state championships under Matt McCullough, who also guided the Rams to a state runner-up, seven playoff appearances, and six district titles.

“No one wanted Matt to stay here more than me,” Doug Dotson said. “I enjoyed the dynamic. Matt got his master’s a few years back and his plan was to go to the school board level. What he’s doing is important with the safety protocols. (Lafayette Parish Superintendent) Francis Touchet’s commitment to keeping everybody safe inside the school and extracurricular activities is a big undertaking and Matt’s stepping into that role.”

Dotson left Comeaux after seven years as head coach to join Matt McCullough’s staff where he served as quarterback’s coach and special teams coordinator the past four years.

“Acadiana football is built on tradition, discipline, and excellence,” McCullough said in a news release. “Coach Doug Dotson has the experience, passion, and leadership to continue that tradition. I have no doubt he will take the program to new heights.”

No one understands the tradition at Acadiana any better than Dotson, who played under his father. He knew the intricacies and blocking schemes of the veer, a physical style of offense that doesn’t make for an enjoyable experience for opponents.

“Toughness, that’s what Acadiana football’s all about,” he said of the traits learned from his father. “When you call and try to schedule games, and no one wants to play you because of the brand of football you play. Nobody wants to face somebody that is committed to pounding the rock for 48 minutes. That’s what Acadiana has always done. As things have changed in the world of football with spread offenses, the teams that have stuck to a physical style of play have a hard time finding opponents.”

Bill Dotson led Acadiana to 188 wins and appearances in the state semifinals in 1977 and quarterfinals in 1999. Five years after Dotson’s death Davidson, his longtime offensive line coach, began a memorable run at Acadiana that included the first of four state championships in Class 5A in 2006.

Davidson went on to a 154-46 record and in 2018, the school added his name to the field alongside Dotson’s name on the stadium.

The Rams also won state titles under Davidson in 2010, ’13, and ’14 and captured two runner-up finishes in ’05 and ’07, while Matt McCullough led the Rams to the state titles in Class 5A and Division I select in ’19 and ’20 and a state runner-up in ’23. 

“That’s one of my regrets,” Doug Dotson said. “My dad loved Ted Davidson. They were very close and he wasn’t around to see that (first state title). I think he would have probably enjoyed it more than anybody else to see what Ted and them did to win that first state championship. That was a special time. The first one’s always the best one. I was there. Everybody I saw mentioned that they wished that he was there to see it.”

Doug Dotson said he’s thankful to coach on the shoulders of the aforementioned head coaches that came before him and the role former Acadiana High principal Dave Cavalier played in the success of the program.

Since 2005, Acadiana’s won six state titles, been state runner-up three times, and advanced to four state semifinals and two semifinals.

“My dad laid the groundwork for the veer, the brand of football we play,” he said. “Ted brought it to the next level. Mr. Cavalier did a lot for Acadiana High as well. This would not be here without those men.”

Doug Dotson has followed in the coaching shoes of his father, entering his 29th season in the profession this fall. He’s spent 15 of those as a head coach with stops at Plaquemine, Central, Erath, and Comeaux before returning home to team with Matt McCullough in 2022.

“It was special for me and Matt to work together,” he said. “The McCullough/Dotson dynamic, those names have been around for a while. I think the world of Matt and what he was able to do here will be hard to be duplicated. His winning percentage (.836) speaks for itself. To win two state championships, play for another, and one semifinal, he’ll retire with one of the highest winning percentages in the history of the LHSAA.”

Dotson said the team meeting was short and to the point. An announcement about McCullough’s departure was made, and that Dotson would be taking over.

Then the players returned to the weight room for offseason conditioning. 

“No. 1 that the legacy is something special to me and my family,” Dotson said. “To be the head coach and have a stadium named after your dad, and the tradition he started here, it’s sentimental, to say the least. All the guys (previous head coaches) that were here got it at the level it is now and that’s a lot to step into, but that’s the challenge. I’m not taking it on by myself. The coaches and kids that are here, I’ve got faith in them.”