Ranking the top 50 college football programs of all time

It was a rough year for the LSU Tigers. No, the final record wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but firing head coach Les Miles was a rough decision. He led the program to a good amount of success, but too many under-performing seasons led to his dismissal.

LSU is one of the few programs on this list with plenty of recent success, not relying on the pre-1950 era for national titles. While the Tigers’ first national championship came in 1958, they’ve won two since — in 2003 with Nick Saban and again in 2007 under Miles.

Miles ranks second all-time in terms of wins in school history and leads the coaching list in win percentage, 77, of those who have coached more than 20 games. Since his 2007 national title, though, the Tigers had just one conference title and five seasons with less than 10 wins. While that’s good for most programs, LSU has set the bar high.

Saban was arguably the second-most successful coach in school history along with Charles McClendon. Miles did have a chance to win a second title in 2011, though, but lost to Alabama in the BCS National Championship.

The Tigers have 14 all-time conference titles (11 since joining the SEC) to go along with 24 bowl wins in 47 tries and four unclaimed national championships.

On top of that, LSU has had 31 consensus All-Americans and notable alumni include Billy Cannon (only Heisman winner), Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu, Odell Beckham Jr., JaMarcus Russell, Morris Claiborne and Glenn Dorsey.