List of LSU Tigers head football coaches

The LSU Tigers college football team represents Louisiana State University (LSU) in the West Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Tigers compete as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 32 head coaches since it began play during the 1893 season.^[1] Since November 2021, Brian Kelly has served as LSU's head coach.^[2]

The team has played more than 1,200 games over 124 seasons of LSU football.^[1] Twelve coaches have led the Tigers in postseason bowl games: Bernie Moore, Gus Tinsley, Paul Dietzel, Charlie McClendon, Jerry Stovall, Bill Arnsparger, Mike Archer, Gerry DiNardo, Nick Saban, Les Miles, Ed Orgeron, and Brian Kelly.^[3] In addition, an Edgar Wingard-coached team accepted an invitation to participate in the first Bacardi Bowl. Six of those coaches also won conference championships after LSU left the Southern Conference to join the SEC: Moore, Dietzel, McClendon, Arnsparger, Archer, Saban, Miles, and Orgeron won a combined twelve as a member of the SEC.^[3] During their tenures, Dietzel, Saban, Miles, and Orgeron each won national championships awarded by major selectors while with the Tigers.^[3]^[4]

McClendon is the leader in seasons coached and games won, with 137 victories during his 18 years with the program.^[1] Allen Jeardeau has the highest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .875.^[1] John P. Gregg and John W. Mayhew have the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .333.^[1] Bo Rein was hired in 1979 as head coach, but died in a plane crash on January 10, 1980, without ever coaching a game at LSU.^[5]^[6] Of the 32 different head coaches who have led the Tigers, Dana X. Bible,^[7] Mike Donahue,^[8] Biff Jones,^[9] Moore,^[10] and Charlie McClendon^[11] have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Key

Key to symbols in coaches list
General		Overall		Conference		Postseason^{[A 1]}
No.	Order of coaches^{[A 2]}	GC	Games coached	CW	Conference wins	PW	Postseason wins
DC	Division championships	OW	Overall wins	CL	Conference losses	PL	Postseason losses
CC	Conference championships	OL	Overall losses	CT	Conference ties	PT	Postseason ties
NC	National championships	OT	Overall ties^{[A 3]}	C%	Conference winning percentage
†	Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame	O%	Overall winning percentage^{[A 4]}

Coaches

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards^{[A 5]}
No.	Name	Term ^{[A 6]}	GC	OW	OL	OT	O%	CW	CL	CT	C%	PW	PL	PT	DC ^{[A 7]}	CC	NC	Awards
1	Charles E. Coates	1893	1	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
2	Albert Simmonds	1894–1895	2	5	1	0	0.833	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
3	Allen Jeardeau	1896–1897	8	7	1	0	0.875	3	0	0	1.000	—	—	—	—	1	0	—
4	Edmond Chavanne	1898, 1900	5	3	2	0	0.600	1	1	0	0.500	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
5	John P. Gregg	1899	6	2	4	0	0.333	1	2	0	0.333	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
6	W. S. Borland	1901–1903	22	15	7	0	0.682	6	6	0	0.500	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
7	Dan A. Killian	1904–1906	16	8	6	2	0.563	3	3	1	0.500	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
8	Edgar Wingard	1907–1908	20	17	3	0	0.850	4	1	0	0.800	—	—	—	—	1	0	—
9	Joe Pritchard	1909	5	4	4	0	0.800	2	1	0	0.667	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
10	John W. Mayhew	1909–1910	9	3	6	0	0.333	1	3	0	0.250	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
11	Pat Dwyer	1911–1913	25	16	7	2	0.680	3	5	1	0.389	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
12	E. T. MacDonnell	1914–1916	22	14	7	1	0.659	3	3	1	0.500	—	—	—	—	0	0	—
13	Irving Pray	1916, 1919, 1922	20	11	9	0	0.550	4	4	0	0.500	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
14	Dana X. Bible^†	1916	3	1	0	2	0.667	1	0	1	0.750	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
15	Wayne Sutton	1917	8	3	5	0	0.375	1	3	0	0.250	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
16	Branch Bocock	1920–1921	17	11	4	2	0.706	2	4	1	0.357	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
17	Mike Donahue^†	1923–1927	45	23	19	3	0.544	5	14	2	0.286	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
18	Russ Cohen	1928–1931	37	23	13	1	0.635	11	9	1	0.548	0	0	0	—	0	0	—
19	Biff Jones^†	1932–1934	31	20	5	6	0.741	11	2	2	0.800	0	0	0	—	1	0	—
20	Bernie Moore^†	1935–1947	128	83	39	6	0.672	43	28	4	0.600	1	3	1	—	2	0	—
21	Gaynell Tinsley	1948–1954	75	35	34	6	0.507	17	25	6	0.417	0	1	0	—	0	0	SEC Coach of the Year (1949)^[16] AP SEC Coach of the Year (1949)^[16]
22	Paul Dietzel	1955–1961	73	46	24	3	0.651	26	16	2	0.614	2	1	0	—	2	1 – 1958	AFCA Coach of the Year (1958)^[17] SEC Coach of the Year (1958)^[16] AP SEC Coach of the Year (1958)^[16]
23	Charles McClendon^†	1962–1979	203	137	59	7	0.692	62	41	3	0.599	7	6	0	—	1	0	AFCA Coach of the Year (1970)^[18] SEC Coach of the Year (1969, 1970)^[16] AP SEC Coach of the Year (1969)^[16] UPI SEC Coach of the Year (1969, 1970)^[16]
24	Bo Rein ^{[A 8]}	1980	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
25	Jerry Stovall	1980–1983	45	22	21	2	0.511	9	13	2	0.417	0	1	0	—	0	0	Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award (1982)^[19]
26	Bill Arnsparger	1984–1986	36	26	8	2	0.750	13	3	2	0.778	0	3	0	—	1	0	SEC Coach of the Year (1984, 1986)^[16] AP SEC Coach of the Year (1986)^[16]
27	Mike Archer	1987–1990	46	27	18	1	0.598	15	12	0	0.556	1	1	0	—	1	0	—
28	Curley Hallman	1991–1994	44	16	28	0	0.364	10	21	0	0.323	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
29	Gerry DiNardo	1995–1999	57	32	24	1	0.570	17	20	1	0.461	3	0	0	2	0	0	—
Int	Hal Hunter ^{[A 9]}	1999	1	1	0	—	1.000	1	0	—	1.000	0	0	—	0	0	0	—
30	Nick Saban	2000–2004	64	48	16	—	0.750	28	12	—	0.700	3	2	—	3	2	1 – 2003	AP Coach of the Year (2003)^[21] Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (2003)^[22] Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (2003)^[23] AP SEC Coach of the Year (2003)^[16]
31	Les Miles	2005–2016	148	114	34	—	0.770	62	28	—	0.689	7	4	—	3	2	1 – 2007	AP Coach of the Year (2011)^[24] SEC Coach of the Year (2011)^[25] Home Depot Coach of the Year Award (2011)^[26]
32	Ed Orgeron	2016–2021	71	51	20	0	0.738	29	14	0	0.674	4	1	0	1	1	1 – 2019	Associated Press Coach of the Year (2019) Home Depot Coach of the Year (2019) Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award (2019) George Munger Award (2019) Paul “Bear” Bryant Award (2019) SEC Coach of the Year (2019)}
Int	Brad Davis	2021	1	0	1	0	.000	0	0	0	-	0	1	0	0	0	0
33	Brian Kelly	2022–present	27	20	7	—	0.741	12	4	—	0.750	2	0	—	1	0	0

Notes

^ Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.^[12]
^ A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.^[13]
^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.^[14]
^ Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
^ LSU did not field a team for the 1918 season due to World War I.^[3]
^ Divisional champions have advanced to the SEC Championship Game since the institution of divisional play beginning in the 1992 season. Since that time, LSU has competed as a member of the SEC West.^[15]
^ Bo Rein was hired in November 1979, but was killed in a plane crash on January 10, 1980, without coaching an official game at LSU.^[5]^[6]
^ Hal Hunter was named interim head coach for the final game of the 1999 season, following the termination of Gerry DiNardo as head coach.^[20]

References

General

"LSU Coaching Records". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on December 29, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
2010 LSU Football Media Guide. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: LSU Sports Information Office. 2010. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

Specific

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e 2010 LSU Tigers Football Media Guide, p. 180
^ "Tigers introduce Saban's successor". ESPN.com. ESPN.com news services. January 4, 2005. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d 2010 LSU Tigers Football Media Guide, pp. 154–163
^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (2010). 2010 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). Indianapolis: NCAA.org. pp. 68–77. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 16, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Rein gets 4-year contract to coach L.S.U. football". The New York Times. December 1, 1979. Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
^ ^a ^b Oller, Rob (January 5, 2008). "Promising start ended tragically". The Columbus Dispatch. Columbus, Ohio: Dispatch.com. Archived from the original on August 29, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
^ Dana Bible at the College Football Hall of Fame
^ Michael "Iron Mike" Donahue at the College Football Hall of Fame
^ Lawrence "Biff" Jones at the College Football Hall of Fame
^ Bernie Moore at the College Football Hall of Fame
^ Charlie "Cholly Mac" McClendon at the College Football Hall of Fame
^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
^ Harwell, Hoyt (November 30, 1990). "SEC sets division lineups". The Tuscaloosa News. Tuscaloosa, Alabama. p. 1C. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j 2010 LSU Tigers Football Media Guide, p. 174
^ USA Today College Football Encyclopedia. New York City: Skyhorse Publishing. 2009. p. 106. ISBN 9781602396777. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
^ USA Today College Football Encyclopedia. New York City: Skyhorse Publishing. 2009. p. 270. ISBN 9781602396777. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
^ "Jerry Stovall: Walter Camp 1982 Coach of the Year". Walter Camp Football Foundation. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
^ "DiNardo out at LSU". CNN/Sports Illustrated. Associated Press. November 16, 1999. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
^ "Saban beats out USC's Carroll for award". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 12, 2003. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
^ "All-time Eddie Robinson Award Winners". Football Writers Association of America. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
^ "Coach of the Year Award: List of past recipients". Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
^ "LSU's Les Miles wins coach of year". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 21, 2011. Archived from the original on January 9, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
^ "Les Miles named SEC coach of the year by his peers". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans: NOLA.com. December 11, 2011. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
^ "LSU coach Les Miles receives a Coach of the Year award". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans: NOLA.com. December 7, 2011. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

[13] Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.^[12]

[14] A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.

[16] Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.^[13]

[18] When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.^[14]

[19] Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season.

[20] LSU did not field a team for the 1918 season due to World War I.^[3]

[22] Divisional champions have advanced to the SEC Championship Game since the institution of divisional play beginning in the 1992 season. Since that time, LSU has competed as a member of the SEC West.^[15]

[26] Bo Rein was hired in November 1979, but was killed in a plane crash on January 10, 1980, without coaching an official game at LSU.^[5]^[6]

[29] Hal Hunter was named interim head coach for the final game of the 1999 season, following the termination of Gerry DiNardo as head coach.^[20]

[l180-1] 2010 LSU Tigers Football Media Guide, p. 180

[2] "Tigers introduce Saban's successor". ESPN.com. ESPN.com news services. January 4, 2005. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

[l154-3] 2010 LSU Tigers Football Media Guide, pp. 154–163

[NCAANCs-4] National Collegiate Athletic Association (2010). 2010 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). Indianapolis: NCAA.org. pp. 68–77. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 16, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

[Rein-hired-5] "Rein gets 4-year contract to coach L.S.U. football". The New York Times. December 1, 1979. Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

[Rein-crash-6] Oller, Rob (January 5, 2008). "Promising start ended tragically". The Columbus Dispatch. Columbus, Ohio: Dispatch.com. Archived from the original on August 29, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

[DB-HOF-7] Dana Bible at the College Football Hall of Fame

[MD-HOF-8] Michael "Iron Mike" Donahue at the College Football Hall of Fame

[BJ-HOF-9] Lawrence "Biff" Jones at the College Football Hall of Fame

[BM-HOF-10] Bernie Moore at the College Football Hall of Fame

[CM-HOF-11] Charlie "Cholly Mac" McClendon at the College Football Hall of Fame

[Bowls-12] National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.

[Ties-15] Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.

[TieCalc-17] Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.

[Division-21] Harwell, Hoyt (November 30, 1990). "SEC sets division lineups". The Tuscaloosa News. Tuscaloosa, Alabama. p. 1C. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

[l174-23] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j 2010 LSU Tigers Football Media Guide, p. 174

[AFCA-CotYPD-24] USA Today College Football Encyclopedia. New York City: Skyhorse Publishing. 2009. p. 106. ISBN 9781602396777. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

[AFCA-CotYCM-25] USA Today College Football Encyclopedia. New York City: Skyhorse Publishing. 2009. p. 270. ISBN 9781602396777. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

[Walter-CotY-27] "Jerry Stovall: Walter Camp 1982 Coach of the Year". Walter Camp Football Foundation. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

[Hunter-28] "DiNardo out at LSU". CNN/Sports Illustrated. Associated Press. November 16, 1999. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

[Saban2003AP-30] "Saban beats out USC's Carroll for award". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 12, 2003. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

[Robinson-31] "All-time Eddie Robinson Award Winners". Football Writers Association of America. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

[Bryant-32] "Coach of the Year Award: List of past recipients". Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

[Miles2011AP-33] "LSU's Les Miles wins coach of year". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 21, 2011. Archived from the original on January 9, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

[Miles2011SEC-34] "Les Miles named SEC coach of the year by his peers". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans: NOLA.com. December 11, 2011. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

[Miles2011HD-35] "LSU coach Les Miles receives a Coach of the Year award". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans: NOLA.com. December 7, 2011. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

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[A 2]

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[A 9]

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List of LSU Tigers head football coaches

Key

Coaches

Notes

References

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