Lane Kiffin Says LSU’s Roster To Be Better Every Year On Barstool Sports, Complains More About Bama By Day

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

LSU football coach Lane Kiffin delivered a warning shot to college football while on Brandon Walker’s Barstool Sports show on Wednesday night.

“We are eight games in, and we have played already as well as anybody in the country at times,” Kiffin said. “We are a really dangerous team, and to do that in an off-season like we have never had before.”

Kiffin totally revamped his roster with more than 60 new players, including 42 from the portal in compiling the No. 1 transfer class in the nation just two months after arriving from the Ole Miss head coaching job on Nov. 30, 2025.

“We got here, and then our coaches are still coaching there (at Ole Miss) and going back and forth,” Kiffin said. “We didn’t know the current players on the team previous.”

And then the clincher.

“As crazy as it sounds, we will always have better rosters than we do this year,” Kiffin said.

For one, he will have the full attention of his staff in future seasons for the portal and high school recruiting, excluding College Football Playoff appearances. And No. 15 LSU (6-2, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) has a shot at that this season. The Tigers host No. 10 Alabama (6-2, 4-2 SEC) on Saturday, Nov. 7 (2:30 p.m., ABC) after an open Saturday this weekend.”

“I’ve never thought twice about this decision, just from getting here and being at home here – the stadium, the environment, the state, the people and how much support there is for football,” he said.

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Kiffin also revisited his aggravation about the LSU-Bama game not being at night, which he spoke about on the SEC teleconference on Wednesday.

“Just having played on the other side, the night is so electric and kind of intimidating here,” he said. “So, there’s a lot of people around here upset about it.”

Kiffin was Alabama’s offensive coordinator from 2014-16 and was 2-0 in Tiger Stadium at night against LSU, winning 20-13 in overtime in 2014 and 10-0 in 2016. The atmosphere at night in Tiger Stadium is much better at night and the best in the nation on those nights in which LSU is having a good season.

But nevertheless, LSU is 6-21-2 all-time at night at home against Alabama and has lost six of its last seven in such games, including 29-0 and 10-0 shutouts in 2018 and ’16, respectively, along with a 55-17 loss in 2020 and a 42-13 loss in 2024. By day, LSU has won two of its last three against Alabama in Tiger Stadium – 24-21 in 2010 in the last day game between the two programs in Tiger Stadium – and 30-28 in 2000 with a 27-21 overtime loss in 2008. Alabama is 7-4-1 against LSU in Tiger Stadium in day games all-time.

Overall, Alabama leads LSU in the series, 58-27-5, including a 30-10-2 advantage in Baton Rouge.

“It’s interesting that all of a sudden this year for the first time since 2010, Alabama’s coming to LSU and not playing at night,” Kiffin said. “Well, I don’t think we’ve got a lot of people around the SEC really rooting for LSU this year after what’s happened. So I don’t think we’re going to get a lot of favors with that.”

Kiffin is referencing the active lawsuit that SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has going against LSU and Kiffin for considering putting two former Ole Miss players who were briefly on NFL training camp rosters over the summer – tight end Dae’Quan Wright with Cleveland and defensive tackle Zxavian Harris with New Orleans. But Kiffin never rostered either, adhering to Sankey’s wishes.

That lawsuit has a hearing date of Nov. 18 in Birmingham.

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“Obviously, they put the game earlier, because they think that’s an advantage for Alabama and not LSU that we can’t be as loud and can’t have the intense environment,” Kiffin said.

LSU is a 3.5-point favorite going into the game.

Obviously, Kiffin is once again playing the victim as he has often done throughout his career. The truth is Alabama has tended to have the advantage at whatever time it plays at LSU – 30-10-2 regardless of kickoff time.

Kiffin and LSU fans are also not considering another fact. The SEC game that is at night on Nov. 7 is a better pairing from a rankings standpoint. That game features No. 3 Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) at No. 12 Ole Miss (5-2, 3-2 SEC) at 6:30 p.m. on ABC, as opposed to a matchup of two teams not as highly ranked in No. 10 Alabama and No. 15 LSU, respectively.

But Kiffin does have a motivational idea for the LSU fan base in reaction to the perceived SEC slight toward him and LSU.

“So, how about proving that we can have the same intense environment four hours earlier,” he said.