Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 2-5
1970Orange BowlL 12-17
1971Sun BowlW 33-15
TEN1972Astro-Bluebonnet BowlL 17-24PSU1973Orange BowlL 9-16
1977Sun BowlL 14-24
MIZ1978Liberty BowlL 15-20
1979Tangerine BowlW 34-10Stats
Big games
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
38-27 against his rivals. Just 2-14 against Bear Bryant.
Building the roster
Two numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Roster ownership
Roster ownership
This coach's entire tenure (1962-1979) predates 2021, when transfer-portal tracking begins in this database. Portal usage cannot be measured for this tenure at all -- this is not the same as '0% portal'.
“His own” means the player arrived while he was head coach; “inherited” means a predecessor brought him in.
The NFL pipeline
The NFL pipeline
players drafted into the NFL off his teams here (a floor — see the note below). None can be traced to who brought them in — there’s no roster record for these players here. 6 went in the first round.
At least 29 — his 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 seasons predate the modern 7-round draft, so this table’s pre-1994 pick counts are a floor, not a full count, for those seasons.
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | R2.02 | Willie Teal | Defensive Back |  Minnesota Vikings | Estimated |
| 1980 | R5.04 | Carlos Carson | Wide Receiver |  Kansas City Chiefs | Estimated |
| 1980 | R5.16 | John Adams | Linebacker |  Oakland Raiders | Estimated |
| 1979 | R1.12 | Charles Alexander | Running Back |  Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 1979 | R6.14 | Clinton Burrell | Defensive Back |  Cleveland Browns | Estimated |
| 1977 | R1.13 | A.J. Duhe | Linebacker |  Miami Dolphins | Estimated |
| 1976 | R5.25 | Ken Bordelon | Defensive End |  Los Angeles Rams | Estimated |
| 1976 | R7.07 | Steve Cassidy | Defensive Tackle | Cleveland Browns | Estimated |
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | R1.22 | Mike Williams | Defensive Back |  San Diego Chargers | Estimated |
| 1975 | R3.25 | Bo Harris | Linebacker | Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 1975 | R7.07 | Steve Rogers | Running Back |  New Orleans Saints | Estimated |
| 1973 | R1.02 | Bert Jones | Quarterback |  Baltimore Colts | Estimated |
| 1973 | R3.18 | John Wood | Defensive Tackle |  Denver Broncos | Estimated |
| 1972 | R2.03 | Tommy Casanova | Defensive Back | Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 1972 | R4.19 | Andy Hamilton | Wide Receiver | Kansas City Chiefs | Estimated |
| 1971 | R7.11 | Buddy Lee | Quarterback |  Chicago Bears | Estimated |
| 1970 | R4.05 | Eddie Ray | Defensive Back | Boston Patriots | Estimated |
| 1969 | R6.06 | Ken Newfield | Running Back | Oakland Raiders | Estimated |
| 1969 | R6.24 | Bill Fortier | Offensive Tackle | Baltimore Colts | Estimated |
| 1968 | R2.20 | John Garlington | Linebacker |  Cleveland Browns | Estimated |
| 1968 | R7.19 | Sammy Grezaffi | Defensive Back | Kansas City Chiefs | Estimated |
| 1967 | R3.24 | Billy Masters | Tight End | Kansas City Chiefs | Estimated |
| 1967 | R6.19 | John DeMarie | Defensive End | Cleveland Browns | Estimated |
| 1966 | R1.12 | Estimated | |||
| 1965 | R5.57 | Estimated | |||
| 1964 | R2.26 | Estimated | |||
| 1964 | R3.36 | Estimated | |||
| 1963 | R1.02 | Estimated | |||
| 1963 | R4.44 | Estimated |
A pick counts toward his tenure when the player’s final college season was one he coached, a checkable rule rather than a claim about who developed the player. A blank note means the player is on a verified roster and arrived on his watch. “Estimated” means no roster record, so the final season is assumed to be the year before the draft.
Career
Coaching career
The arc of his career is on Now.
Sustainer inherited a power and held it for five-plus elite seasons
3rd-best LSU tenure of 16 by the numbers.
Followed Paul Dietzel (1955–1961) · succeeded by Jerry Stovall (1980–1983).
| Season | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||||||||||||||
| Record | 9-1-1 | 7-4 | 8-2-1 | 8-3 | 5-4-1 | 7-3-1 | 8-3 | 9-1 | 9-3 | 9-3 | 9-2-1 | 9-3 | 5-5-1 | 4-7 | 6-4-1 | 8-4 | 8-4 | 7-5 | |
| Postseason | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | L bowl | W bowl | L bowl | L bowl | — | — | — | L bowl | L bowl | W bowl | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||||||||||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
All-time wins
Wins at programs this site tracks, 1936–present — one consistent count for every coach, not each program’s own historically reported total.
1st all-time at LSU
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
-3.4 pts at LSU · #910 of 1290 · middle half