He became the villain once again, a role he resumed with the grace and ease of someone who knows the part. But amid a deep College Football Playoff run from his former team and the lingering awkwardness surrounding Lane Kiffin’s departure, the reality of his LSU arrival took a backseat to the circus of it all.
It was, well, weird. Kiffin’s decision to commit, which seemed like an eventuality, took too long. Ole Miss, a team poised to be one-and-done in the playoff with the head coach long gone and the staff in turmoil nearly made the championship.
Let’s be clear about what has happened since. Kiffin has done exactly what he was expected to do—what he’ll be paid a small fortune to do.
In fact, his roster overhaul with the Tigers in such an expedited period of time is nothing short of extortionary.
This is why LSU hired him. And this is why Kiffin left a spectacular situation at Ole Miss. Whether you like him or not, and many of you are plenty clear on this part, the potential of this powerful, potent football marriage has been on display ever since.
For a moment, forget about the unknowns. We’re still more than six months away from seeing what exactly Kiffin has in store in Baton Rouge. National signing day, whatever exactly that means in the year 2026, came and went on Wednesday.
This movement to overhaul the roster began hours after Kiffin jumped on a private plane in Oxford, with an ocean of boos and obscenities blanketing his farewell. Only hours later, Kiffin met with Lamar Brown, a 5-star defensive lineman, an elite prospect in the Tigers’ backyard, hoping to keep one of the nation’s best players from leaving the state.
Brown ultimately committed to LSU. As did fellow 5-star, Richard Anderson, giving Kiffin commitments from two of 247Sports’ top 12 ranked players nationally. With LSU’s signing class largely assembled, 247Sports currently has LSU at No. 11 in the country.
Considering how quickly this all came together, that result is nothing short of remarkable. NIL certainly played a part, which is one of the reasons Kiffin left Ole Miss to begin with, but Kiffin was still able to work miracles with little time to do so.
In many respects, this was a glimpse into the future. The glimpse into the immediate came with LSU’s transfer portal class, which was 247Sports’ best-rated class by a significant margin.
The highlight unquestionably is quarterback Sam Leavitt, who was a dominant football player for Arizona State over the past two seasons when healthy. Kiffin also scored huge at critical positions, landing commitments from offensive lineman Jordan Seaton and star pass rusher Princewill Umanmielen, formerly of Ole Miss, deep in the process.
They reloaded the wide receiver room. They stocked up on lineman on both sides of the ball. He beefed up the secondary. They added roughly 40 players courtesy of the transfer portal, remaking a roster that needed to be remade.
Indeed, Kiffin used a plethora of resources to make this all possible. But that was what made this all so very attractive for both parties.
LSU has the resources to recreate this kind of football feeding frenzy yearly. And Kiffin, throughout every stop he’s ever made in his wild coaching tenure, through the highs and lows, has shown a unique ability to recruit at the highest level.
“Where that puts us now is we have a really talented roster,” Kiffin told reporters on Wednesday, via Grace Raynor of The Athletic. “Does that mean we’re gonna win games? Not necessarily. Does that mean we’re gonna be a great team? No. We have a lot of work to do.”
While the roster has changed, the expectations have not. For as long as Kiffin is the coach at LSU, he will be expected to make the College Football Playoff and compete for national championships each and every season.
Anything short of that, of course, will come with angst—the kind of angst that reached a fever pitch under Brian Kelly after years of unmet expectations.
For Kiffin, this part is unavoidable. Every loss will be worse than the one that came before it, and those rooting for him to fail will make sure their voice is heard each and every time.
But let’s give credit where it is most certainly due, especially considering how freely criticism will flow when things aren’t perfect.
Without having a game to prove his worth, Kiffin has delivered. With ample resources at his disposal, Kiffin has put this team, a roster composed almost entirely of new faces, in a position to win big without waiting.
It’s a small sample size, and the outcomes of actual football games will ultimately be the only things that matters. But if the last few months are any indication of what’s to come, one can’t help but think this football partnership, for as chaotic and awkward as it felt for a while, was perfect all along.
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