In 1982, the NCAA changed its jersey rule, requiring teams to wear dark colored jerseys for home games. The Tigers wore purple jerseys for all home games from 1983 to 1994. When Gerry DiNardo became head coach in 1995, he vowed to change the NCAA jersey rule. After petitioning the rules committee of the American Football Coaches Association, he personally met with each member of the NCAA Football Rules Committee. DiNardo’s efforts were successful and the Tigers were allowed to wear white jerseys again beginning in 1995. A stipulation of the new rule was that the visiting team would have to give the home team permission to wear the white jerseys. The first team to deny LSU’s request was DiNardo’s former team, Vanderbilt.
Instead of going back to purple jerseys, the Tigers took to the field in new gold jerseys. The SEC later adopted a league rule stipulating that the home team has sole discretion in determining its jersey color. Nick Saban became LSU’s head coach in 2000 and continued the white jersey tradition, but with a twist. Saban decided that LSU would wear purple jerseys for all non-SEC games, except the home opener, a trend that current LSU coach Les Miles has continued.”