Jerry Stovall

Perhaps no coach assumed their position under more tragic and bizarre circumstances than former LSU head coach Jerry Stovall, who took over at LSU in 1980 as an emergency hire following the death of then-head coach Bo Rein. Rein had just been hired by LSU earlier that offseason and was poised to begin his first season with the Tigers. Instead, he died in a plane crash, forcing LSU to turn to Stovall, an assistant at the time, in the wake of tragedy.

Stovall was up-and-down in four years as head coach from 1980-1983, posting two winning seasons in that time. His best season came in 1982, when he led the Tigers to an 8-3-1 record, a berth in the Orange Bowl and the No. 11 ranking in the final Associated Press poll of the season. He subsequently had his worst season at LSU the following season, going 4-7 and 0-6 in the SEC before being dismissed from the job. He posted a combined record of 22-21-2 in four seasons with the Tigers.