The debate over Jayden Daniels’ No. 5 has done more than stir up opinions about one jersey. It has pulled back the curtain on how LSU actually handles its most celebrated numbers - and the answer is more nuanced than many fans realize.
At LSU, a retired jersey does not automatically mean the number is gone for good. Under the school’s current bylaws, a student-athlete can still wear the number tied to a retired jersey if that jersey was retired after Jan.
1, 2007. That call is left to the head coach.
That’s the key split at LSU: retired jersey versus retired number.
In football, LSU’s list of retired jerseys includes Billy Cannon’s No. 20, Tommy Casanova’s No.
37, Jerry Stovall’s No. 21, Charles Alexander’s No. 4 and Bert Jones’ No. 7, which is set to be retired Nov.
- But only Cannon’s No. 20 is permanently off limits.
When LSU announced Jones’ upcoming jersey retirement in July, the university made the distinction clear, saying Cannon has the only retired number in LSU football history. LSU also noted that the other retired football jersey numbers were still being worn by current players.
The bylaws also spell out exactly how a jersey gets retired in the first place. A player has to be done competing for LSU for at least five years before being nominated. The school says the honors must go beyond the bar for LSU Athletics Hall of Fame induction.
LSU says the achievement has to be unique, and it points to examples such as a Heisman Trophy or a national player of the year award. The evaluation is based on the athlete’s full LSU career.
There are other ways to qualify, too. LSU says a nominee can be considered for having a major impact on the popularity of a sport or for playing a role in significant positive change within LSU Athletics.
Even then, the process is strict: a nominee needs unanimous approval from the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame Committee.
The policy behind the jersey-number split goes back to a bylaw change effective Jan. 1, 2007.
Jerseys retired after that date can still have their numbers kept in circulation if the head coach chooses. Numbers tied to jerseys retired before that change remain unavailable.
Across LSU athletics, the school specifically identifies the numbers worn by Pete Maravich, Bob Pettit, Shaquille O’Neal, Billy Cannon and Skip Bertman as numbers that may never again be worn in their respective sports.
The renewed attention comes as sophomore cornerback D.J. Pickett gets ready to wear No. 5, the number Daniels wore in his two seasons at LSU.
Daniels won the Heisman Trophy in 2023 and finished his LSU career after that season. But because of LSU’s five-year waiting period, he is not yet eligible to be nominated for jersey retirement.
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