FORTY MINUTES TO BATON ROUGE

FORTY MINUTES TO BATON ROUGE examines the life and tragic death of LSU head football coach Robert Bo Rein at age 34. The fact that Rein never actually coached a day at LSU muddies the emotional waters and creates an unfortunate chasm between those who knew him and those who never got the chance. Sadly after only 42 days at the helm the evening of January 10 1980 took a tragic and unfathomable turn. While returning to Baton Rouge from a Shreveport recruiting trip Rein and his pilot Lewis S. Benscotter turned a 40 minute junket into a three hour 1000 mile odyssey that 40 years later still has us scratching our heads. Rein's twin engine Cessna 441 would plunge 40000 feet into the Atlantic Ocean 100 miles off Cape Charles VA. For LSU the sadness resembled a new friend they had just met and abruptly lost. For NC State the loss was devastation and utter disbelief. And for Ohioans...they had lost a beloved son.