Paul Dietzel, who led the LSU Tigers to their first football national championship, died early Tuesday. He was 89. Funeral arraignments were incomplete, said LSU sports spokesman Kent Lowe. He said Dietzel died after a brief illness, but did not provide any other details. The family posted a noticed online saying Dietzel died 19 days after his 89th birthday and one day before the 69th anniversary of his wedding to Anne Dietzel. "Coach died peacefully and is at his heavenly home," the notice said. Dietzel coached LSU from 1955 until 1961, leaving for Army and South Carolina. He also broadcast Southern Conference football games and helped create Samford University's athletics department before returning to LSU as athletics director from 1978 until 1982. Dietzel was the last living member of the staff that guided LSU to an undefeated season and national championship in 1958. The Tigers beat Clemson in the 1959 Sugar Bowl. Dietzel's memoir "Call Me Coach: A Life in College Football" was published in 2008 by Louisiana State University Press. "Coach Dietzel was a man of great honor and integrity. He was the perfect role model for young people, and I will always cherish the moments that I was able to spend with him," LSU vice chancellor and athletics director Joe Alleva said in a statement from LSU. "Looking back at what he accomplished here at LSU, he was way ahead of his time as a football coach. His 1958 national championship set LSU on a path of being what it is today." Read more http://espn.go.com/college-football...-coach-1958-national-champion-lsu-tigers-dies
