By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU has confirmed that it has credentialed nearly 900 media members, including a handful of celebrities, for the No. 11 Tigers’ season opener against No. 23 Clemson on Saturday in Tiger Stadium (6:30 p.m., ABC).
It will also be the LSU head coaching debut of rock star head coach Lane Kiffin, who left Ole Miss after last regular season to turn around the Tigers.
“Showtime’s real man, it’s a performance,” Kiffin said Wednesday on the first weekly Southeastern Conference teleconference of the season. “Nowadays especially. You go to great concerts, whoever you like? Taylor Swift – it’s a performance, the whole thing. And we want a performance where we win, and so that people want to come back and that the stadium’s always full. And people are fighting to get into the stadium.”
So, Lane Kiffin makes his LSU debut Saturday … any reason why he or his team might be distracted somewhat?https://t.co/a45fMC1e5E
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) August 31, 2026
The LSU-Clemson game has been sold out for weeks for 102,321-seat Tiger Stadium, and the LSU-Alabama and LSU-Texas games of Nov. 7 and Nov. 14 are also sold out.
“We have the most credentialed game in the history of Tiger Stadium for two teams that were 7-6 last year,” Kiffin said. “So that speaks volumes of the eyeballs on us, and people wanting to be around the program and watch the program.”
Among the credentialed celebrities expected are former LSU and NBA great Shaquille O’Neal, former LSU gymnast and social media influencer/model Livvy Dunne, comedian Theo Vonn and nearly two dozen former LSU football players.
For just the second time in Tiger Stadium history, LSU will have to use reserved seating in the pressbox lounge area behind the press seating for overflow media members. The first was when No. 5 LSU hosted No. 1 and defending national champion Alabama on Nov. 3, 2012 – one year after a Game of the Century when No. 1 LSU beat No. 2 Alabama, 9-6, in overtime in Tuscaloosa.
This is more than a football game.
“Bring your popcorn,” as Kiffin likes to say.
“I do believe, especially nowadays, this is big business,” Kiffin said. “We pay the players a lot. We’ve got big payrolls.”
New LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt, a junior transfer from Arizona State who was the No. 1 prospect in the transfer portal when he signed with LSU last January, is expected to make approximatley $5 million this year via LSU’s various Name, Image & Likeness collectives and packages. Left tackle Jordan Seaton, who was the No. 4 prospect in the portal, is expected to make in the $4 million range as well.
LSU’s total roster tab is likely between $40 and $50 million.
“We need to bring a lot of money in,” Kiffin, 51, said. “And so part of that is winning. The other thing is that you have a program that people want to support and players want to come to. You have to have a very marketable program that people want to be a part of in person and financially.”
LSU finished 7-6 and 3-5 in the Southeastern Conference last year with a 38-35 loss to No. 21 Houston in the Texas Bowl. Coach Brian Kelly was fired the day after a 49-25 loss to Texas A&M on Oct. 25 that dropped the Tigers to 5-3 and 2-3 and out of the College Football Playoff for the fourth time in Kelly’s four seasons on a 10-year, $100 million contract. LSU will also be paying the majority of Kelly’s original buyout of $54 million for the next several years.
Clemson finished 7-6 and 4-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference last season in coach Dabo Swinney’s 18th season. Swinney, 56, won national championships in 2016 and ’18, but has been to the playoffs only once since losing the national championship game to LSU in the 2019 season. LSU has not been back since that season.
“Dabo’s done one of the best jobs in college football, sustained over a long period of time,” Kiffin said. “That’s really hard to do. And he is dominant. To win as much as he has is about as good as anybody’s ever done. His teams are always well coached, well prepared, play really hard. And we know we’re going to have our hands full on Saturday. We’ve got to play really well in our first game together. We’ve got to play really smart. Not just outplay them as a goal, but outthink them. We’re still working on that.”
LSU is Kiffin’s sixth head coaching job after the NFL Oakland Raiders (2007-08), Tennessee (2009), USC (2010-13), Florida Atlantic (2017-19) and Ole Miss (2020-25). He won big at Florida Atlantic and Ole Miss, but he has never taken a team into the playoffs as a head coach. He did leave Ole Miss after an 11-1 (7-1 SEC) regular season that qualified for the playoffs last year to come to LSU with a seven-year contract at $90 million. He wanted to stay and coach Ole Miss in the playoffs, and LSU gave him the go-ahead. But Ole Miss said no.
And the Rebels won two playoff games with Kiffin’s players and offensive coaches to reach the CFP semifinals. Kiffin also won a national championship as Alabama’s offensive coordinator in the 2015 season over Clemson and Swinney and won two as a USC assistant in 2003 and ’04.
“Excited for it to finally be here,” Kiffin said. “This has been eight months we’ve been here, at least, and all leading up to this performance. Our fans are really excited, the state. Our university has put a lot into us and entrusted us with a big time job to turn around LSU football to get it back where they want it to be. Don’t take that lightly and have great appreciation for that opportunity. So, that’s why we’ve worked the way that we have. That’s why we competed in every area to give our fans the best performance starting Saturday.”
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