Jim Engster

LSU head football coach Lane Kiffin speaks to the media for the final time this spring (Photo by LSU Athletics). There was a time in college football when one loss spelled doom for any power vying for a national championship. Most of the winners were undefeated for generations, and LSU remains the lone titlist to finish at the top with two defeats. The Tigers were 12-2 in 2007 in year three of the Les Miles experiment, dropping contests in triple overtime to Kentucky and Arkansas.

LSU men's basketball coach Will Wade (Tiger Rag photo by Jonathan Mailhes). Will Wade’s motivation to return to the scene of his greatest accomplishment and worst defeat was a desire to come home. He was the toast of TigerTown in 2019 when he was exposed as a serial transgressor of NCAA rules. This is the place where his team captured the SEC title in 2019 and fans roared “Free Will Wade” over his suspension.

By JIM ENGSTER, PRESIDENT It was the nonagenarian crooner Willie Nelson who said, “Ninety-nine percent of the world’s lovers are not with their first choice. That’s what makes the jukebox play.” The quote from the red-headed stranger applies to recent LSU Heisman trophy winning quarterbacks. Joe Burrow’s first choice was Ohio State where his talents were almost invisible.