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LSU Coaching History
By Ethan Stone
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The history of head football coaches at LSU is an extensive one. In total 33 men have held the title, with a pair of interim coaches mixed in as well.
Before Brian Kelly took over the head coaching role in 2022, the 3 previous head coaches had all claimed national titles. Nick Saban won his first title at LSU after a 13-1 2003 season. Les Miles won it all in 2007. Ed Orgeron took one of the best teams in college football history to the top in 2019.
Time will tell if Kelly continues the streak of stellar head coaching in Baton Rouge, but he’s already started well. Kelly won 20 of his first 27 games as head coach and he’s well past the awkward transition period.
To appreciate the future of LSU football, you should first understand its past and how we got here. Here’s a look at LSU’s head coaching progression, all the way from Charles E. Coates in 1893 to Brian Kelly in 2024.
LSU Coaching History
Continuity was nonexistent in the early days of LSU football (which was true of most college football programs back then). The Tigers went through 20 head coaches in the first 50 years of their program, and they didn’t have a head coach last more than 5 years until Bernie Moore led the team from 1935-1947.
Moore was the first long-tenured coach at LSU and currently sits third for most wins collected across each stint in Baton Rouge.
Let’s get into the guy who sits at the top in career wins at LSU.
Charles McClendon (1962-1979)
Charles McClendon is the winningest football coach in LSU history. He amassed a 137-59-7 record, far from the best wining percentage but consistently strong. LSU finished under .500 just once under McClendon and he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986.
McClendon leads LSU in total games coached, of course. He was LSU’s head coach for 17 seasons and oversaw 203 total games. Even before he took the reins as head coach McClendon was instrumental in the Tigers program, serving as an assistant from 1953 until his promotion for the 1962 season.
His first year was his best. The Tigers finished 9-1 in 1962 with an eventual 13-0 victory over Texas in the Cotton Bowl. The Tigers lost just once in 1969, too.
McClendon had struggles winning the big games in Baton Rouge, it’s no secret. LSU has 5 national titles across its storied history, but McClendon was never able to get LSU a championship during his time with the program. The Tigers won just one SEC Championship during his tenure, too, struggling (as all coaches did) against Alabama and Bear Bryant.
McClendon passed away in 2001 at the age of 78 in Baton Rouge. LSU named its practice facility after McClendon in 2002 shortly following his death.
Nick Saban (2000-2004)
Nick Saban was hired by LSU in 2000 after a 5-year stint as Michigan State’s head coach.
At that time, Saban had been kind of all over the place. His first head coaching gig was at Toledo, but he soon made a move to the NFL with the Cleveland Browns as DC under Bill Belichick. He then landed at Michigan State where he won more than 7 games just once — in 1999.
Time to address the elephant in the room. Saban isn’t known for his tenure at LSU, but it’s impossible to tell his story without the Tigers. Widely considered one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, Saban won his first title in Baton Rouge by leading the Tigers to a 13-1 record with a BCS Championship victory over Oklahoma, 21-14.
Saban of course went on to build a death star at Alabama, but not before making a quick stop in the NFL as head coach of the Miami Dolphins following his 2004 national title. Alabama swooped in and nabbed Saban from the NFL in 2007 and the rest is history.
Les Miles (2005-2016)
Les Miles is the second-winningest coach in LSU history with an overall record of 114-34 — good enough for a cool .770 win percentage, the highest of any Tigers head coach to oversee more than 20 games. There’s an asterisk next to these numbers, but we’ll address that later.
Miles won 10 or more games 7 times and reached the national title twice. The Tigers won it all in 2007 and fell to Alabama in 2011 following a perfect regular season. Unfortunately, Miles struggled to meet expectations from then on out at LSU.
Miles produced 4 more 8-win seasons after falling in the 2011 national title game, but his records kept getting worse and worse. After falling to Auburn 18-13 to fall to 2-2 in 2016, LSU fired Miles and hired Ed Orgeron. Three years later, the Tigers were national champions once again.
Here comes the asterisk. The NCAA vacated 37 wins from LSU during Miles’ tenure spanning the 2012-2015 seasons, a punishment that stemmed from an embezzlement case involving a former LSU lineman. Because of this, his career coaching record falls under 60%, the minimum requirement for the College Football Hall of Fame.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
