His precise paintbrush strokes colorfully detail LSU’s prized Tiger Stadium during the 1958 National Championship football season.
“The Way We Were” is the title of Paul Dietzel’s watercolor painting that captures memories from his seven-season stint as LSU’s head football coach from the late 1950s to early 1960s.
Dietzel, now 83 and an avid watercolorist, displayed his collection this past week at the Louisiana State Archives. The collection featured paintings of birds, houses, landscapes and LSU-themed subjects.
“The Way We Were” shows the stadium in its lower-capacity form before the East and West Upper Deck additions.
But Dietzel jokingly said he thinks attendance was underreported because of the masses of fans who tell him they witnessed an infamous Halloween night punt return in Tiger Stadium.
“The way I look at it, the stadium sure did seat a lot more people back then because I’ve personally met a million people who’ve said they were there for [Heisman Trophy winner] Billy Cannon’s run,” Dietzel said with a laugh.
Dietzel began his artistic pursuits by drawing cartoons to keep his players amused and motivated.
Jerry Stovall, former LSU running back who played under Dietzel, said he fondly remembers Dietzel’s cartoons that were frequently posted on the locker room walls.
“He had a lot of famous sayings and doodles that he would put on scouting reports,” said Stovall, who visited Dietzel’s exhibit on opening day. “Like if we were playing Ole Miss, he would draw the Rebel and have some theme to it. He was an outstanding motivator.”
After his LSU career, Dietzel coached at Army and South Carolina and served as LSU’s athletic director from 1978 to 1982.
“If there’s anything I miss about coaching, it’s the relationship with the players,” Dietzel said. “To be in the locker room after winning a game … it’s the best feeling in the world.”
What he doesn’t miss is the pressure from alumni groups and University boosters.
“It’s a very fast trip from the penthouse to the outhouse,” he said.
The transition from coach to retiree is not typically easy, but Dietzel found a hobby to fill the empty hours. About 19 years ago, he departed from casually drawing cartoons to seriously try his hand at watercolor paintings.
Dietzel didn’t have to look far for instruction as his daughter Kathie DuTremble is a professional artist. DuTremble remembers childhood road trips to away games when her father would draw elaborate themed Bingo games to keep the kids occupied.
DuTremble’s work will appear alongside her father’s paintings next fall in a Shreveport exhibit.
“He’s always known how to draw really well,” he said. “He paints basically what he likes, which is usually barns, flowers and birds. The more you paint, the better you get.”
Dietzel also received support from wife Anne Dietzel. The two met in typing class as high school juniors in Ohio and have been together since.
“So many men, when they retire, they don’t have a hobby and they go bananas,” she said. “They don’t know what to do with themselves … especially men who were in prominent positions. It keeps him busy, and he sells a few every now and then, which keeps him happy.”
Dietzel said he was stunned at the first offer to buy one of his paintings.
“I said, ‘You mean you’d really like to buy one of mine?'” Dietzel said. “I didn’t even know what to sell it for.”
Demand for Dietzel’s work increased dramatically after LSU won its second National Championship in 2003.
“I signed my name more times in that month [after the National Championship] than I had done in 40 years,” he said.
The demand prompted Dietzel to pen his autobiography titled “Call Me Coach,” which will be released in 2008 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1958 championship season.
“Everything fell into place that year,” Dietzel said with a smile.
Dietzel said his memoirs will show the character standard he required from team members. It’s a standard, he said, that may be lacking in many current teams.
“I always told my players, ‘The one person on the field who can cuss is me, and you know I don’t cuss,'” he said.
Dietzel began packing up his paintings early Monday morning, as a new exhibit was entering the showroom.
In addition to his paintings, the showroom featured a biographical display board with the heading: “The Man … The Coach … The Legend.”
But Dietzel sheepishly scoffed at being called a legend, saying he simply did the best he could for his friends, family and God.
“It’s really nice, but it’s embarrassing,” he said. “I don’t know what to say. I’m just me.”
—-Contact Amy Brittain at [email protected]