1979 LSU Tigers football team

The 1979 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University (LSU) as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 18th-year head coach Charles McClendon, the Tigers compiled an overall record of 7–5, with a mark of 4–2 in conference play, and finished tied for third in the SEC.

Bo Rein, who led NC State to the 1979 Atlantic Coast Conference championship, was hired six days after the regular season finale, but McClendon and his staff coached the Tangerine Bowl vs. Wake Forest. Rein perished in a bizarre plane crash January 10, 1980, only 42 days after his hiring and was succeeded by former LSU All-American Jerry Stovall.