1. Charles McClendon was born on October 17,1923, in Lewisville, Arkansas.
11 Facts About Charles McClendon
1. 2.
Charles McClendon played college football under Bear Bryant at the University of Kentucky.
3.
Charles McClendon's first coaching job was as an assistant at Vanderbilt University in 1952.
4.
Charles McClendon was retained as an assistant when Paul Dietzel took over the team in 1955.
5.
In 1958, Charles McClendon helped Dietzel coach LSU to its first recognized national championship.
6.
At first Charles McClendon did not realize his team had made the conversion until he heard the roar of the Tigers' fans.
7.
Not coincidentally, this was the only year that a Charles McClendon-coached team won an SEC title; his Tigers finished undefeated and untied in SEC play for the first time since 1961, Dietzel's final season.
8.
Charles McClendon was awarded AFCA Coach of the Year honors, but the Tigers lost the 1971 Orange Bowl to eventual national champion Nebraska.
9.
Charles McClendon was due to become president of the American Football Coaches Association, and Dietzel didn't want to embarrass Charles McClendon by firing him that year.
10.
Charles McClendon was the president of the American Football Coaches Association in 1979 and executive director from 1982 to 1994.
11.
Charles McClendon's death came just two days before LSU won its first outright SEC title in 15 years.