After a program’s best 11-1 season and locking up a playoff at-large seed, Lane Kiffin left the Ole Miss Rebels for the Louisiana State University Tigers. Kiffin’s last game for Ole Miss was a win in the Egg Bowl with a 38-19 win against Mississippi State. LSU is paying $13 million annually on a 7-year contract, and Ole Miss will keep paying him with every game the Rebels win in the playoffs. LSU will also commit more than $25 million for the NIL budget.
Kiffin’s coaching journey has been a whirlwind. Starting his journey at Fresno State as an assistant in 1997, he then transitioned to the NFL, taking a job at Jacksonville as a defensive quality control. He then took a position at USC from 2001 to 2006 as a position coach. Then, becoming the Head Coach for the Las Vegas Raiders for one year in 2007, which was an absolute failure, with a record of 5-15. He was fired shortly into the 2008 season. He then took the Tennessee Head Coach position, and after a 7-6 season, he resigned in a controversial way, to take the USC job and then became the Offensive Coordinator at Alabama for 3 years. Finally, he took the Ole Miss job after the 2019 season and was there for 5 years. He completely built up the program, taking the team over with a 4-8 record, leading them to the playoffs for the first time in program history, only to leave them in the dust and take the whole offensive staff with him to LSU. Kiffin’s record for his 5 years at the Rebels was 55-19.
So the question is, will Kiffin be a success at LSU? Before Lane, there was Brian Kelly, who had a 34-14 overall record and got fired earlier this season after starting 5-3. LSU is one of the most successful and desirable jobs in the country. Lane even said during his introductory conference, “LSU is the best job in football.” The Tigers have won 4 National Championships and have 12 SEC championships, and have one of the top NIL funds in the country. Kiffin’s mentors, Pete Carroll and Nick Saban, helped him make the decision. “You are gonna regret it if you don’t take the shot and don’t go to LSU,” they said. LSU currently has the number 12 recruiting class in the 2026 class and has the number 2 overall player, ATH Lamar Brown, committed. Kiffin is regarded as one of the best recruiters in the nation and relies heavily on the transfer portal for players. In all 5 years Kiffin was at Ole Miss, they had a top 20 recruiting class.
There are lots of different speculations of how Kiffin’s time at LSU will work out. Many think it will work out due to the better resources available, like NIL and Facilities. Although many think it will be a failure, particularly because of the leadership of Kiffin and the instability of Kiffin’s reputation. Will Kiffin work and the Tigers are successful, or will it be a failure and will he get fired just like Brian Kelly?
