TheLSU Tigerscollege football team representsLouisiana State University (LSU) in the West Division of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC). The Tigers compete as part of theNCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 32 head coaches since it began play during the1893 season.[1] From November 2021 to October 2025,Brian Kelly 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 postseasonbowl games:Bernie Moore,Gus Tinsley,Paul Dietzel,Charlie McClendon,Jerry Stovall,Bill Arnsparger,Mike Archer,Gerry DiNardo,Nick Saban,Les Miles,Ed Orgeron, andBrian Kelly.[3] In addition, anEdgar Wingard-coached team accepted an invitation to participate in the firstBacardi Bowl. Six of those coaches also wonconference championships after LSU left theSouthern 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 wonnational 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 andJohn 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 theCollege Football Hall of Fame.
| 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 theCollege Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overallwinning percentage[A 4] | ||||
| No. | Name | Term [A 6] | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | DC [A 7] | CC | NC | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles E. Coates | 1893 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2 | Albert Simmonds | 1894–1895 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0.833 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 3 | Allen Jeardeau | 1896–1897 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0.875 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 4 | Edmond Chavanne | 1898, 1900 | 1, 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.600 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 5 | John P. Gregg | 1899 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0.333 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.333 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 6 | W. S. Borland | 1901–1903 | 3 | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 0.682 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 7 | Dan A. Killian | 1904–1906 | 3 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0.563 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 8 | Edgar Wingard | 1907–1908 | 2 | 20 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0.850 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0.800 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 9 | Joe Pritchard | 1909 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0.800 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.667 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 10 | John W. Mayhew | 1909–1910 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0.333 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.250 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 11 | Pat Dwyer | 1911–1913 | 3 | 25 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 0.680 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0.389 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 12 | E. T. MacDonnell | 1914–1916 | 3 | 22 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 0.659 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 13 | Irving Pray | 1916, 1919, 1922 | 1, 1, 1 | 20 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 0.550 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0.500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 14 | Dana X. Bible† | 1916 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.667 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.750 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 15 | Wayne Sutton | 1917 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0.375 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 16 | Branch Bocock | 1920–1921 | 2 | 17 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 0.706 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0.357 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 17 | Mike Donahue† | 1923–1927 | 5 | 45 | 23 | 19 | 3 | 0.544 | 5 | 14 | 2 | 0.286 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 18 | Russ Cohen | 1928–1931 | 4 | 37 | 23 | 13 | 1 | 0.635 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 0.548 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 19 | Biff Jones† | 1932–1934 | 3 | 31 | 20 | 5 | 6 | 0.741 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0.800 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 20 | Bernie Moore† | 1935–1947 | 13 | 128 | 83 | 39 | 6 | 0.672 | 43 | 28 | 4 | 0.600 | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | 2 | 0 | — |
| 21 | Gaynell Tinsley | 1948–1954 | 7 | 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 | 7 | 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 | 18 | 203 | 137 | 59 | 7 | 0.692 | 63 | 41 | 3 | 0.603 | 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 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 25 | Jerry Stovall | 1980–1983 | 4 | 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 | 3 | 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 | 4 | 46 | 27 | 18 | 1 | 0.598 | 15 | 12 | 0 | 0.556 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 28 | Curley Hallman | 1991–1994 | 4 | 44 | 16 | 28 | 0 | 0.364 | 10 | 21 | 0 | 0.323 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 29 | Gerry DiNardo | 1995–1999 | 5 | 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 | 1 | 0 | — | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | — | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 30 | Nick Saban | 2000–2004 | 5 | 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 | 12 | 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 | 6 | 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 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 33 | Brian Kelly[27] | 2022–2025 | 4 | 42 | 31 | 11 | — | 0.738 | 17 | 7 | — | 0.708 | 3 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Int | Frank Wilson[28] | Present |
| Int! scope="row" |Frank Wilson | 2021| 1| 1| 0| 1|0|.000| 0| 0|0| -|0|1|0|0|0| 0||-| 33
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