junior center Lloyd Cushenberry (79). The two players have been selected to wear the prestigious number No. 18. — Photo courtesy of LSU Athletics
BATON ROUGE — LSU has awarded two players the famed No. 18 jersey.
LSU head football coach Ed Orgeron announced Thursday night that junior center Lloyd Cushenberry and redshirt sophomore outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson have been selected to wear the prestigious number.
Both players were presented their new numbers at a team meeting Thursday night which helped wrapped up LSU’s first day of training camp.
Cushenberry is the first offensive lineman to be awarded the No. 18 jersey but due to the rules of college football he won’t be able to actually wear the jersey. So Cushenberry will keep wearing his No. 79 jersey but will have a No. 18 patch stitched onto the jersey.
Chaisson meanwhile will switch from No. 4 to No. 18.
This is only the second time since the tradition began in 2003 that two LSU players have been issued the No. 18 jersey for the same season. The previous time occurred in 2017 when tight end J.D. Moore and current graduate assistant Christian LaCouture both donned No. 18.
The No. 18 jersey tradition dates back to 2003 when quarterback Matt Mauck helped lead the Tigers to the program’s first national title in football since 1958, and his No. 18 became synonymous with success — both on and off the field.
Mauck passed down his No. 18 jersey to running back Jacob Hester which began the tradition of how important the No. 18 jersey is to the LSU football team.
Here’s a complete list of Tigers who have worn No. 18
Year(s) Player (Position)
2001-03 Matt Mauck (quarterback)
2004-07 Jacob Hester (running back)
2008-09 Richard Dickson (tight end)
2010 Richard Murphy (running back)
2011 Brandon Taylor (safety)
2012 Bennie Logan (defensive tackle)
2013 Lamin Barrow (linebacker)
2014 Terrance Magee (running back)
2015-16 Tre’Davious White (cornerback)
2017 Christian LaCouture (defensive line)
2017 J.D. Moore (tight end)
2018 Foster Moreau (tight end)
2019 K’Lavon Chaisson (outside linebacker)
2019 Lloyd Cushenberry (center)