Jerry Stovall, LSU's ‘Mr. Everything’ and Former Head Coach, Dies at 85

Jerry Stovall, the LSU football legend known as "Mr. Everything," died Monday, August 31, in Baton Rouge, according to LSU Athletics. He was 85. No cause of death has been disclosed.

Stovall earned his nickname the hard way. From 1960 to 1962, he played halfback, defensive back, punter and kick returner for the Tigers, sometimes all in the same game. According to LSUsports.net, he finished his three-season college career with 218 carries for 1,081 yards and 13 touchdowns, 30 catches for 462 yards and a touchdown, seven interceptions, and a school-record 42.1-yard punting average in 1962.

That 1962 season made him a unanimous All-American and the SEC's Most Valuable Player. He finished runner-up to Oregon State quarterback Terry Baker in the Heisman Trophy voting, according to the National Football Foundation. Stovall was part of LSU's 1961 SEC championship team, which went 10-1 and won the Orange Bowl, and the 1962 squad that finished 9-1-1 with a Cotton Bowl win over Texas.

He played under two Hall of Fame coaches at LSU, Paul Dietzel for his first two seasons and Charles McClendon starting in 1962. Dietzel reportedly once called him "that skinny little runt from West Monroe," according to LSUsports.net. McClendon later credited Stovall's blocking and defense that season as "the most vicious this season by one of our backs."

The St. Louis Cardinals took Stovall with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1963 NFL Draft. He spent nine seasons in the league, mostly at safety, making three Pro Bowls (1966, 1967, 1969) and earning Second Team All-Pro honors in 1966. He finished his NFL career with 18 interceptions and two touchdowns across 97 games, according to LSU Athletics.

After his playing career, Stovall coached under Dietzel at South Carolina before returning to LSU as an assistant under McClendon from 1974-78. When incoming head coach Bo Rein died in a plane crash in early 1980 before ever coaching a game for the Tigers, LSU turned to Stovall to take over the program.

He led LSU for four seasons, going 22-21-2. His best year came in 1982, when the Tigers went 8-3-1, beat three top-10 opponents and reached the Orange Bowl, where No. 3 Nebraska beat No. 13 LSU to close out a 12-1 season for the Cornhuskers. Stovall was named the Walter Camp Football Foundation's national Coach of the Year that season, according to Field Level Media. His tenure ended after a winless 1983 conference campaign.

Stovall moved into athletics administration after coaching, serving as Louisiana Tech's athletic director from 1990 to 1994 and later as President and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Sports Foundation for more than two decades, a role that kept him embedded in Louisiana sports well past his playing and coaching days.

His honors piled up over the decades: the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1977, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1981, the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010. LSU retired his No. 21 jersey in Tiger Stadium on October 13, 2018.

Archie Manning, chairman of the National Football Foundation, called Stovall "one of the great all-around players of his era and a tremendous representative of LSU and the game of college football" in a statement. "There simply wasn't much he couldn't do on a football field," Manning said. "He ran the ball, caught passes, punted, returned kicks and played defense, and he did it all at an All-America level. His impact on LSU extended well beyond his playing days as a coach and leader in the Baton Rouge community."

Coverage of Stovall's death has been consistent across outlets on the basic facts. The New York Post and Newsweek note that no cause of death has been announced, while LSU's own athletics department and the National Football Foundation likewise did not disclose one. The Big Lead highlighted a detail most other outlets omitted: LSU's 1982 Orange Bowl trip ended in a loss to Nebraska, capping what was otherwise Stovall's signature season as head coach.

LSU has not announced funeral or memorial service details as of Tuesday, September 1. The Tigers open their 2026 season this week, and any on-field tribute to Stovall, whose No. 21 already hangs retired in Tiger Stadium, has not yet been confirmed by the university.