Chinese Bandits

The Chinese Bandits were the backup defensive unit on coach Paul Dietzel's LSU Tigers football teams, most notably the 1958 and 1959 teams. The name was also used briefly by the Army Cadets football team during Dietzel's coaching tenure at the U.S. Military Academy. At LSU, they made up the third unit of Dietzel's "three-platoon system." While they lacked experience and talent, the Bandits were notable for their tenacity and toughness. The unit was hugely popular among fans, and has since become part of LSU sports lore.

In 1958, LSU head coach Paul Dietzel experimented with different methods of keeping players rested. He implemented his "three-platoon system," which split the team into the "White Team," the "Go Team," and the "Chinese Bandits." Each platoon was a unit consisting of eleven players. The White Team was the starting unit. It consisted of the team's most talented players who excelled on both offense and defense. The Go Team was the second string unit that played primarily on offense. The Chinese Bandits were the team's second string defense, and was made up of mainly underclassmen. Dietzel's plan was to swap players out in a platoon-like fashion in order to keep them rested throughout the game, since most starters played on both offense and defense during this era. Instead of resting individual players, he replaced all eleven players on the field.

Dietzel wanted to give the backups on the team an identity they could rally around and take pride in. He named the Chinese Bandits after characters from a Terry and the Pirates comic strip. The comic described the bandits as "the most vicious people in the world." He felt that the name fit with what he wanted to accomplish. Most players in the Bandits unit had seen very little playing time before the 1958 season. What they lacked in experience and skill, Dietzel hoped they would make up for with competitiveness and teamwork.

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