A. L. Swanson

"Red Swanson" redirects here. For the baseball player, see Red Swanson (baseball).

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.

A. L. Swanson

Biographical details
Born	(1905-04-19)April 19, 1905 Louisiana, U.S.
Died	November 4, 1987(1987-11-04) (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

Football

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

Statistics overview

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

Statistics overview

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         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion