Arthur Leonard "Red" Swanson Sr. (April 19, 1905 – November 4, 1987) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Southeastern Louisiana College—now known as Southeastern Louisiana University—from 1931 to 1937 and at Southwestern Louisiana Institute of Liberal and Technical Learning—now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette—in 1950, compiling a career college football coaching record of 46–21–4.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 19, 1905 Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | November 4, 1987 (aged 82) Farmerville, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1923–1925 | LSU |
| Position(s) | Guard, fullback, tackle |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1930 | LSU (freshmen) |
| 1931–1937 | Southeastern Louisiana |
| 1938 | LSU (freshmen) |
| 1947 | LSU (line) |
| 1948 | LSU (freshmen) |
| 1950 | Southwestern Louisiana |
| Basketball | |
| 1944–1945 | LSU |
| Baseball | |
| 1943–1945 | LSU |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 46–21–4 (football) 4–2 (basketball) 28–23 (baseball) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Baseball 1 SEC (1943) | |
| Awards | |
| Baseball SEC Coach of the Year (1943) | |
From 1943 to 1945 he served as head coach of the LSU Tigers baseball team.[1] His record as LSU's baseball coach was 28–23 and led the 1943 team to a Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship. During the 1944–45 LSU Tigers basketball season, he served as head coach for the final six games, compiling a 4–2 record.[2]
Swanson's son, also nicknamed Red Swanson, was a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1957. The elder Swanson was married to Billie Hightower and died in 1987.
Head coaching record
editFootball
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southeastern Louisiana Lions (Independent) (1931–1937) | |||||||||
| 1931 | Southeastern Louisiana | 2–2–2 | |||||||
| 1932 | Southeastern Louisiana | 3–5 | |||||||
| 1933 | Southeastern Louisiana | 7–3 | |||||||
| 1934 | Southeastern Louisiana | 7–3 | |||||||
| 1935 | Southeastern Louisiana | 7–2 | |||||||
| 1936 | Southeastern Louisiana | 7–0–1 | |||||||
| 1937 | Southeastern Louisiana | 8–2–1 | |||||||
| Southeastern Louisiana: | 41–17–4 | ||||||||
| Southwestern Louisiana Bulldogs (Gulf States Conference) (1950) | |||||||||
| 1950 | Southwestern Louisiana | 5–4 | 2–3 | T–4th | |||||
| Southwestern Louisiana: | 5–4 | 2–3 | |||||||
| Total: | 46–21–4 | ||||||||
Basketball
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LSU Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (1944–1945) | |||||||||
| 1944–45 | LSU | 4–2 | 0–1 | ||||||
| LSU: | 4–2 (.667) | 0–1 (.000) | |||||||
| Total: | 4–2 (.667) | ||||||||
Baseball
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LSU Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (1943–1945) | |||||||||
| 1943 | LSU | 13–8 | 11–3 | 1st | |||||
| 1944 | LSU | 4–8 | |||||||
| 1945 | LSU | 11–7 | |||||||
| LSU: | 28–23–0 (.549) | 11–3 (.786) | |||||||
| Total: | 28–23–0 (.549) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
edit- ^ "The Early Years" (PDF). lsusports.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 30, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
- ^ "LSU Fighting Tigers Coaches". sports-reference.com. Retrieved July 29, 2018.