LSU claims four national championships, and they were won by four different head coaches, which no other program with that many titles can say. The three modern ones came in a span of seventeen seasons, and the last of them, the 15 and 0 team of 2019, is regularly named the best single season team in the history of the sport.
The Four Claimed Titles
| Season | Coach | Record | How it was decided |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Paul Dietzel | 11, 0 | Consensus, Sugar Bowl over Clemson |
| 2003 | Nick Saban | 13, 1 | BCS title game over Oklahoma, shared with USC |
| 2007 | Les Miles | 12, 2 | BCS title game over Ohio State |
| 2019 | Ed Orgeron | 15, 0 | CFP title game over Clemson |
Gold rows are undisputed titles. In 2003 the AP named USC, which had been left out of the BCS game, so LSU’s title from that season is the coaches’ version.
2019: Fifteen and Oh
Joe Burrow threw 60 touchdown passes, a record, and LSU beat seven top ten opponents, also a record, scoring 48 points a game. The playoff run went 63 to 28 over Oklahoma and 42 to 25 over defending champion Clemson in New Orleans. Fourteen players from the roster were drafted the following April, including Burrow first overall, Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase. Our College Football Playoff results page has every championship game.
1958: The First
Paul Dietzel’s team went 11 and 0 with a three platoon system, the White Team, the Go Team and the Chinese Bandits, and beat Clemson 7 to 0 in the Sugar Bowl. Billy Cannon, who would win the Heisman the next year, scored the only touchdown. It was the only unbeaten and untied team in the country that season and the program’s first claimed championship.
2003: Saban’s First
LSU went 13 and 1, lost only to Florida, and beat Georgia 34 to 13 for the SEC title before holding Oklahoma to 154 yards in a 21 to 14 Sugar Bowl win. The AP gave its championship to USC, which had been ranked first in both human polls but left out of the BCS game by the computers. The split is the reason the BCS changed its formula, and LSU claims the coaches’ title.
2007: Two Losses
The 2007 team lost twice, both in triple overtime, to Kentucky and Arkansas, and reached the championship game only because the two teams ahead of it lost on the final weekend. It beat Ohio State 38 to 24 in New Orleans and remains the only two loss national champion of the BCS or playoff era. Les Miles made the decision to stay at LSU rather than take the Michigan job the week before the SEC championship game.
The Four Unclaimed Titles
At least one recognised selector named LSU champion in 1908, 1936, 1962 and 2011. The 1908 team went 10 and 0 under Edgar Wingard and outscored opponents 442 to 11; the 2011 team went 13 and 0 through the SEC title before losing the championship game rematch to Alabama 21 to 0, and is the strongest of the four cases. The school claims none of them. Our page on most national championships explains why counts differ.
Four Coaches, Four Titles
Dietzel, Saban, Miles and Orgeron each won exactly one championship at LSU, and the last three followed each other directly. No other program has had three consecutive head coaches each win a national title. The run ended with Brian Kelly, who was hired to extend it and fired in October 2025. Our head coaches page covers all of them.
The Bottom Line
LSU claims four national championships, 1958, 2003, 2007 and 2019, won by four different coaches. The 2019 team went 15 and 0 with a record 60 touchdown passes and is the usual answer to the question of the best team ever. Four other seasons produced titles from at least one selector, including the 13 and 0 start of 2011. Our national champions by year page has every season.