re: One of the original “Chinese Bandits” has left us

The Bandits were defensive specialists and usually did not play both ways.
Jim Lavin was a great person. However, the Chinese Bandits were born in 1958 as part of Dietzel's three-team system --the White team which played both ways, the Go team which specialized on offense and the Chinese Bandits, which specialized on defense. In Lavin's years 1956 and 1957 he did play both ways. In 1956 he was the only LSU player big enough to go against the great Earl Leggett, the Tigers' star tackle who had an outstanding professional career after his final campaign under Dietzel in 1956.








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