Paul Dietzel Paul Franklin Dietzel ( September 5 , 1924 – September 24 , 2013 ) was an American football player , coach , and college athletics administrator . He served as the head coach at Louisiana State University ( 1955 – 1961 ) , the United States Military Academy ( 1962 – 1965 ) , and the University of South Carolina ( 1966 – 1974 ) , compiling a career record of 109 – 95 – 5 . Dietzel ' s 1958 LSU team concluded an 11 – 0 season with a win over Clemson in the Sugar Bowl and was a consensus national champion . For his efforts that year , Dietzel was named the National Coach of the Year by both the American Football Coaches Association and the Football Writers Association of America . Dietzel also served as the athletic director at South Carolina ( 1966 – 1975 ) , at Indiana University Bloomington ( 1977 – 1978 ) , and at LSU ( 1978 – 1982 ) . Playing career . Dietzel began his football career in Mansfield , Ohio , where his high school team went undefeated and tied for second in the state . After high school , he was given a scholarship to play football at Duke University . After one year at Duke , he served in the U . S . Army Air Forces during World War II . From there he moved on to Miami University of Ohio , where he became an All - American at center . Coaching career . After graduating from Miami in 1948 , Dietzel began his coaching career as an assistant coach . He served under such legendary coaches as Red Blaik at Army and Bear Bryant at the University of Kentucky . In 1955 , Dietzel became the head coach at LSU . During Dietzel ' s first three years , none of his teams had a winning season . In 1958 , however , Dietzel came up with a unique three - team platoon system . It consisted of three teams of 11 different players , and was designed to keep his players from being fatigued in an era when most players started on both offense and defense . Instead of replacing individual players during the game , Dietzel would bring in an entirely new set of players between plays and series . The three teams were called the White Team ( the first - string offense and defense ) , the Gold ( Go ) Team ( the second - string offense ) , and the Chinese Bandits ( the second - string defense ) . The system worked , as the Tigers went undefeated and won the a national championship . The Chinese Bandits , the second - string defensive unit , which consisted of less - talented but ferocious players , became hugely popular with LSU fans and remains one of the most legendary pieces of LSU football history . After 1958 , Dietzel continued to have success at LSU . His teams finished with 9 – 1 regular seasons in 1959 and 1961 , finishing # 3 and # 4 in the final AP Poll . The 1959 team was ranked first in the country in both wire - service polls until losing to the Tennessee Volunteers , 14 – 13 , in the eighth game of the season . LSU concluded the season with a 21 – 0 loss to Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl , two months after the top - ranked Tigers beat the third - ranked Rebels 7 – 3 in Tiger Stadium on Billy Cannon ' s 89 - yard punt return , a play that helped win Cannon the Heisman Trophy . After the 1961 season , Dietzel accepted the head coaching job at Army . He was the first non - Army graduate to hold the position . In a 2005 article for the " Concordia Sentinel " of Ferriday , Louisiana , Dietzel said that leaving LSU was one of the hardest decisions he ever made . " I think the way you measure my move is ' Was LSU better when I left than when I came in ? ' " Dietzel said . " It was tough leaving . I never considered going anywhere else because I thought LSU was the best coaching job in America . I loved the LSU fans . They are crazy and passionate about it . I had never considered West Point because they had never had a non - graduate coach . When they came around and asked me if I would be interested , it opened a door I thought would never be opened . " However , he was not able to match the success he had at LSU , compiling a record of 21 – 18 – 1 at Army . Dietzel stayed at Army until 1966 , when he became head coach and athletic director at the University of South Carolina . Despite coaching South Carolina to the school ' s only conference championship in football , the Atlantic Coast Conference title in 1969 , Dietzel ' s overall record was only of 42 – 53 – 1 . In 1974 , amid intense fan pressure , Dietzel announced that he would resign at the end of the season , following an upset loss to Duke as the Gamecocks fell to 0 – 2 . Dietzel had become unpopular due to his team ' s mediocrity and failure to realize the lofty dreams that he had promised . Dietzel hoped to remain as the athletic director at South Carolina , but was not allowed to . Athletic administration career . As the South Carolina athletic director , Dietzel greatly improved the athletic facilities . He oversaw South Carolina ' s withdrawal from the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1971 . Dietzel felt that the ACC ' s higher academic entrance requirements were preventing the South Carolina football program from signing talented players which could propel the program to national prominence . The withdrawal was heavily criticized and questioned over the years . Dietzel has one other lasting legacy at South Carolina . During the first game of the 1968 season , Dietzel heard the school ' s band play the Broadway show tune " Step to the Rear " and decided that it should be the school ' s new fight song , and proceeded to write a new set of lyrics to the tune . Later that season , the song , with Dietzel ' s lyrics , made its debut as " The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way " , which has been Carolina ' s fight song ever since . Dietzel left coaching in 1975 to become the commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference for one year . He then served as athletic director at Indiana University before returning to LSU in 1978 . He was the school ' s athletic director from 1978 to 1982 . Dietzel also served as president of the American Football Coaches Association and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes . Later life . After retiring from college athletics , Dietzel became a watercolor painter . He lived in Baton Rouge , Louisiana , with his wife , Anne until his death . Dietzel authored a book that was published by Louisiana State University Press in September 2008 , titled " Call Me Coach : A Life in College Football " . He died September 24 , 2013 .