The 1896 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University (LSU) during the 1896 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. This was LSU's first season playing as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA). The Tigers, led by coach Allen Jeardeau, went undefeated and were the SIAA co-champions. It was LSU's second undefeated season in football. The 1896 team was also the first LSU team to use the nickname "Tigers".

Allen Wilson Jeardeau was an American college football and college baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at the Platteville Normal School—now the University of Wisconsin–Platteville—in 1895 and 1898 and at Louisiana State University (LSU) from 1896 to 1897. In 1896, his first season with the LSU Tigers, Jeardeau led the team to a 6–0 record and a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) championship. He was also the head coach of the LSU Tigers baseball team in 1898. Jeardeau was a graduate of the Platteville Normal School and a student at Harvard University. He died of pneumonia on April 10, 1900, at his home near Platteville, Wisconsin.