By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU football coach Lane Kiffin kept secret an offensive assistant hiring over the summer, possibly so he does not upset Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey.
Kiffin added Nate Carroll as an offensive analyst before this season, but that was never made public until Sunday during Kiffin’s weekly teleconference with reporters. Kiffin coached under Carroll’s dad Pete Carroll at USC from 2001-06 with national championships in 2003 and ’04.
Nate Carroll, 39, was an assistant quarterbacks coach for the NFL Las Vegas Raiders last season under his dad and was the Carolina Panthers’ passing game coordinator in 2024. From 2011-23, Carroll coached under his dad while he was the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach.
“Yeah, we didn’t add him to the roster officially because he was a pro guy,” Kiffin deadpanned Sunday, paused as no one seemed to get it, then chuckled.
“No, Nate came to us late during training camp and actually was coming out to kind of learn some stuff on offense,” Kiffin said. “And then really liked it. So, he’s been helping us out.”
“This was what the whole thing was supposed to look like when it was put together.” … Lane Kiffin post Auburn
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) October 25, 2026
Carroll was spotted next to LSU offensive coordinator Charlie Weis in the pressbox coaching booth at Auburn Saturday during LSU’s 38-17 win. “After Further Review” radio show host Matt Moscona of 104.5 FM in Baton Rouge asked Kiffin about Carroll on Sunday.
“He’s done a really good job getting along with the offensive coaches and really fit in well,” Kiffin said. “He sits by Charlie and Dane up there and helps them.”
Dane Stevens is LSU’s quarterbacks coach.
Lane Kiffin accuses Auburn defenders of hip-drop tackling attempts on Trey’Dez Green. https://t.co/mYnwiC8bfM
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) October 25, 2026
Kiffin was criticized by Sankey before the season for signing two former Ole Miss players after they were cut from NFL training camp rosters over the summer after practicing briefly. Those were tight end Dae’Quan Wright of the Cleveland Browns and defensive lineman Zxavian Harris of the New Orleans Saints. Kiffin was considering putting both on his roster, but in the end did not, adhering to Sankey’s wishes.
Nevertheless, Sankey has not dropped his lawsuit filed on Sept. 3 in U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Alabama, alleging that LSU violated the SEC’s First Amendment right of expressive association by ignoring SEC rules that prohibit signing and playing former NFL players. Wright and Harris never played at LSU or in an NFL game and were never on LSU’s official roster.
Sankey then had the lawsuit amended after Kiffin made light of his recruitment of Wright and Harris during a halftime interview with ESPN after taking a 31-3 lead over No. 23 Clemson in the season opener on Sept. 5.
“Imagine if we had pro players,” Kiffin cracked to ESPN’s Holly Rowe, who laughed.
Three days later the SEC alleged that Kiffin’s statements “stand in sharp contrast to the silence by the President and Athletic Director of LSU and confirm the lack of institutional control over the athletics program at LSU that is required by Article 6 of the SEC Constitution and by the remaining provisions of the Constitution and Bylaws.”
Those comments have been ridiculed in Louisiana and elsewhere, but Sankey still refuses to back down.
Kiffin was obviously joking at halftime of the Clemson game and on the teleconference on Sunday.
But don’t be surprised if Kiffin’s latest dig motivates Sankey to add another amendment to his lawsuit, which probably won’t be taken seriously by many either.
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