By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
New LSU football coach Lane Kiffin has completed his mostly Ole Miss West coaching staff.
The latest hire was that of special teams coordinator Joe Houston from Florida on Monday afternoon. Houston coached at Florida for the past two seasons. Other stops during his career include one season under Nick Saban at Alabama and three as a special teams coach with the New England Patriots under coach Bill Belichick.
LSU also confirmed the hiring of defensive line coach Sterling Lucas, which was previously reported, and Kiffin has made his younger brother Chris Kiffin linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator under returning defensive coordinator Blake Baker.
Kiffin retained Baker from LSU’s previous staff along with three other defensive coaches – secondary coach Corey Raymond, safeties coach Jake Olsen and edge rushers coach Kevin Peoples. Olsen and Peoples coached under Baker at Missouri before coming to LSU after the 2023 season and dramatically turned around the defense after a disastrous campaign in 2023 under defensive coordinator Matt House.
Raymond also returned to LSU also before the 2024 season from Florida, where he coached cornerbacks and was assistant head coach in 2022 and ’23. A former LSU and NFL defensive back, Raymond coached LSU defensive backs from 2012-21.
Chris Kiffin, 43, has been at LSU since his brother arrived on Nov. 30. He coached linebackers at Ole Miss in 2025 after working as a defensive analyst in 2024. Before that, he coached six seasons in the NFL – linebackers for Houston in 2023, defensive line for Cleveland from 2020-22 and pass rush for San Francisco in 2018 and ’19. He began his coaching career at Idaho in 2005 and ’06 before the 2007 season as a graduate assistant at Ole Miss under head coach Ed Orgeron.
He was a defensive quality control assistant at Nebraska in 2008 and ’09 under head coach Bo Pelini, a former LSU defensive coordinator. The younger Kiffin was under his brother again in 2010 as a defensive administrative assistant when Lane was USC’s head coach. In 2011, he coached Arkansas State’s defensive line. From 2012-16, Kiffin was Ole Miss’ defensive line coach/recruiting coordinator under head coach Hugh Freeze. In 2017, Kiffin was defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for his brother at Florida Atlantic.
LSU also named previous Ole Miss assistant Lou Spanos an assistant defensive line coach and pass rush specialist at LSU.
Lucas joins the program after four seasons as the defensive ends and outside linebackers coach at South Carolina. Spanos and Kiffin both joined the LSU staff from Ole Miss. Spanos most recently served as a defensive analyst for the Rebels and comes to LSU with 17 years of NFL experience.
In 2024, Lucas oversaw the development of Kyle Kennard, who won the Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation’s top defensive player.
The staff additions include three on defense, one on special teams and seven on offense. Eight of the 11 additions have followed Kiffin from Ole Miss. All 11 have SEC experience and eight have NFL experience, either as a player or coach, or both.
As reported earlier Monday, former Ole Miss coach Kevin Smith just joined the LSU staff on Sunday as running backs coach and assistant head coach. He will continue to help coach Ole Miss’ offense in the College Football Playoffs along with several other just-hired LSU assistants from Ole Miss.
As previously reported, Charlie Weis Jr. will serve as LSU’s offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach, and he will continue to coach Ole Miss in the playoffs. Ole Miss (12-1) plays Georgia (12-1) in the second round of the playoffs on Jan. 1 in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
Also brought over to LSU by Kiffin from his offensive staff at Ole Miss on Nov. 30 are Joe Cox (tight ends/co-offensive coordinator), George McDonald (wide receivers/passing game coordinator), Eric Wolford (offensive line), Sawyer Jordan (inside wide receivers) and Dane Stevens (quarterbacks assistant). They will continue to coach the Rebels in the playoffs as well after beating Tulane in the first round on Saturday in Oxford.
Weis, McDonald, Smith, Cox, Stevens, and Jordan were all part of the best regular season in program history in 2025 under Kiffin as the Rebels posted an 11-1 mark and advanced to the College Football Playoffs.
In 2025, the Ole Miss offense averaged nearly 38 points per game and led the SEC in yards per game (498.0), passing yards per game (312.4) and rushing touchdowns (36). Ole Miss has scored 59 total offensive touchdowns this season, which ranks second in the league.
The Ole Miss offense featured the SEC Newcomer of the Year in quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and All-America running back Kewan Lacy, who has rushed for 1,366 yards and 21 touchdowns.
As also previously reported, Kiffin hired Eric Wolford from Kentucky to be his offensive line coach. Wolford also previously coached at Alabama under Saban. Stevens was the offensive coordinator at West Georgia in 2024 before returning to Ole Miss in 2025 as the passing game specialist. He served as senior analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach for Kiffin and the Rebels in 2022-23.
Not retained by Kiffin as previously reported are associate head coach/running backs coach Frank Wilson, offensive line coach Brad Davis, run game coordinator/tight ends coach Alex Atkins and co-offensive coordinator/receivers coach Cortez Hankton.
Wilson, who replaced fired coach Brian Kelly on Oct. 26 as interim head coach, will continue to coach the Tigers through bowl practices in preparation for the Texas Bowl on Saturday against Houston (8 p.m., ESPN) in Houston. Davis, Atkins and Hankton are also coaching LSU through the bowl. LSU’s defensive coaches for the bowl who are being retained are Baker, Raymond, Olsen and Peoples.
Defensive line coach Kyle Williams was not retained by Kiffin and is coaching LSU through the bowl. LSU offensive coordinator Joe Sloan was fired on Oct. 27 and later was named Kentucky’s offensive coordinator under new head coach Will Stein.
LSU Football Coaching Staff Additions
Joe Cox – Co-Offensive Coordinator / Tight Ends
Joe Houston – Special Teams Coordinator
Sawyer Jordan – Inside Wide Receivers
Chris Kiffin – Co-Defensive Coordinator / Linebackers
Sterling Lucas – Defensive Line
George McDonald – Passing Game Coordinator / Wide Receivers
Kevin Smith – Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs
Lou Spanos – Pass Rush Specialist / Assistant Defensive Line
Dane Stevens – Quarterbacks
Charlie Weis Jr. – Offensive Coordinator
Eric Wolford – Offensive Line
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