Charles McClendon Charles Youmans McClendon ( October 17 , 1923 – December 6 , 2001 ) , also known as Charlie or " Cholly Mac , " was an American football player and coach . He served at the head coach at Louisiana State University from 1962 to 1979 . McClendon was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986 . Early years . McClendon was born on October 17 , 1923 in Lewisville , Arkansas . He played college football under Bear Bryant at the University of Kentucky . Coaching career . McClendon ' s first coaching job was as an assistant at Vanderbilt University in 1952 . In 1953 , he came to LSU as an assistant under head coach Gaynell Tinsley . He was retained as an assistant when Paul Dietzel took over the team in 1955 . In 1958 , McClendon helped Dietzel coach LSU to its first recognized national championship . At the end of the 1961 season , Dietzel left LSU and picked McClendon to be his successor . McClendon served as the LSU head coach for the next 18 years ( 1962 – 1979 ) , the longest tenure of any football coach in LSU history . During his first 12 years ( 1962 – 1973 ) , McClendon coached the Tigers to nine appearances in the final AP Poll , with an average rank of 9 . 22 . During this time , LSU ' s record was 97 – 32 – 5 ( . 724 winning percentage ) and LSU went to two Sugar Bowl s ( 1965 and 1968 ) , two Cotton Bowl Classic s ( 1963 and 1966 ) , and two Orange Bowl s ( 1971 and 1974 ) . LSU won nine games in five consecutive seasons from 1969 – 1973 , but during that stretch won only one Southeastern Conference championship ( 1970 ) and one bowl game in four visits , the 1971 Sun Bowl versus Iowa State . In 1964 , LSU defeated arch - rival Ole Miss 10 - 9 through an unexpected two - point conversion attempt . At first McClendon did not realize his team had made the conversion until he heard the roar of the Tigers ' fans . In 1969 , LSU was 9 – 1 and ranked fifth at the end of the regular season , but when the Cotton Bowl Classic denied the Tigers a match - up with top - ranked and undefeated Texas , LSU refused invitations by the Bluebonnet Bowl and Liberty Bowl , instead opting to stay home . Tiger fans suspected the culprit for the Cotton Bowl Classic snub was the decision by Notre Dame to lift its self - imposed bowl ban and participate in post - season play for the first time since 1925 . When the Irish opted to return to the bowl scene , the Cotton Bowl Classic snapped up Notre Dame . The seething antipathy between LSU and Notre Dame boiled over into a two - year series between the schools in 1970 and 1971 , in which the home team won each game , Notre Dame in 1970 and LSU in 1971 . Despite all of LSU ' s success during this period , the Tigers only had a 4 – 7 – 1 record against Ole Miss and a 2 – 8 record against Bear Bryant ' s Alabama Crimson Tide . 1970 was the only year in which McClendon beat both Ole Miss and Alabama in the same season , and not coincidentally the only year his Tigers finished undefeated in the SEC . McClendon was awarded AFCA Coach of the Year honors , but the Tigers lost the 1971 Orange Bowl to Nebraska . McClendon ' s 1973 team lost three games in a row , to Alabama , Tulane , and Penn State in the Orange Bowl , to end the season after starting 9 – 0 . This was the Tigers ' first loss to Tulane since 1948 and signaled the beginning of a decline . During McClendon ' s last six seasons as LSU ' s head coach ( 1974 – 1979 ) , LSU had no appearances in the final AP Poll and compiled a record of 38 – 29 – 2 ( . 551 winning percentage ) . The Tigers also lost to Tulane in 1979 , but that was followed by a 34 – 10 victory over Wake Forest in the Tangerine Bowl , McClendon ' s final game at LSU . In addition to owning the longest tenure in LSU football coaching history ( 18 seasons ) , McClendon holds the program records for most wins ( 137 , including two forfeits to LSU ) , most losses ( 59 ) , most bowl appearances ( 13 ) , most bowl wins ( 7 ) , and most bowl losses ( 6 ) . Later years . After his retirement from LSU , McClendon became the executive director of the Tangerine Bowl , now renamed the Capital One Bowl , from 1980 to 1981 . He was also the president of the American Football Coaches Association in 1979 and executive director from 1982 to 1994 . The practice facility at LSU was named in his memory on September 9 , 2002 , nine months after his death on December 6 , 2001 . His death came just two days before LSU won its first outright SEC title in 15 years .