"We wanted to keep it in the family"

It hadn't hurt that 30 Tiger players attended a 3½-hour board meeting to testify on his behalf. "We wanted to keep it in the family," says senior guard Eric Andolsek. Added Williams, "Coach Arnsparger leaving was like my dad dying. But with Coach Archer, it's like my mother took over."

When Archer took the LSU head coaching job, he was 34 years old, the youngest head coach in Division I-A football. Archer was chosen over a number of interviewed candidates, which reportedly included Steve Spurrier, Mike Shanahan, and Mack Brown. Arnsparger later hired Spurrier at head football coach at Florida.