In this time of coaching chaos, let us take time to recognize one of LSU’s GOAT FB coaches

Edgar Wingard



-1908 National Champion, officially recognized by the NCAA
-2 time conference champ: 2008 (LSU, SIAA); 1911 (Maine, MIAA)
-LSU football coach (1907-1908); .850 winning percentage
-LSU basketball coach (1908-1909); .714 winning percentage
-LSU baseball coach (1908-1909)
-LSU T&F coach (1907-1909)
LSU’s first great coach recruits LSU’s first great player: Doc Fenton

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LSU fired coach Dan Killian after a dismal 1906 season. It’s not that the team was terrible, LSU was a respectable 2-2-2, but the style of play was dreadful. Still trapped in the thrall of the flying wedge which had killed 20 people in 1905, LSU won by scores of 5-0 and 17-0 and the two ties? Both scoreless draws.

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Change came in the form of Edgar Wingard, a “notorious hell raiser”, who quickly installed a fast-paced offense which relied on deception, speed, and the newly invented forward pass. He had his charges play soccer in practice to learn footwork and agility. But for all of his forward-thinking ingenuity as a strategist, LSU truly hired Wingard for his skill as a recruiter

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Wingard made up for lost time, bringing Doc on a recruiting trip to Baton Rouge, sealing the deal with the promise of nickel beers and a reminder of Starkville’s blue laws. That was enough for Fenton, who signed with LSU and immediately transformed the team

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Took the Tigers to Cuba in 07 to play in the Bacardi Bowl, the first collegiate football team ever to play on foreign soil

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Havana had recruited a mammoth 300-pounder to play, but Fenton observed the player drinking more than his share of wine before the game. He instructed a teammate to hit him in the stomach on the game’s first play, and according to Fenton, “the big guy spouted wine like an artesian well. We nearly had to swim out of there.” LSU dominated from this point on, and Cuban fans lauded Fenton as “El Rubio Vaselino,” the “Vaselined Redhead” for his amazing play and slippery moves in the open field

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Coached LSU’s first Heisman Winner

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LSU became a point-a-minute team. LSU outscored its opponents 442 to 11 on the season. That is not a misprint. Mike Lally scored 14 touchdowns and 81 points. Not to be outdone, Doc Fenton scored 13 touchdowns, 6 field goals, and 125 points. By modern scoring rules, Doc Fenton would have scored 144 points. The National Football Foundation recognized Fenton as the retroactive Heisman winner.

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An innovator of his day

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Going back to that Vaselined Redhead nickname, this is because Wingard soaked Fenton’s shirt in a mild acid solution before each game, causing the fabric to weaken and tear when defenders tried to grab a hold of him. Wingard essentially invented the tear-away jersey a half century before its time.

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Fraudulently besmirched, and tragically left out of the LSU Sports HOF and the Louisiana Sports HOF

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Do it, LSU. Do it for Doc Fenton. Claim the 1908 title.

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Do it, Scott. Claim 1908.