By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
New LSU football coach Lane Kiffin plans to transition from Portal King to Tiger King of Recruiting once he gets entrenched in Baton Rouge, he said during ESPN’s telecast of the Texas Bowl between LSU and Houston in Houston on Saturday night.
“Yeah, it definitely does,” Kiffin said when asked if the LSU job will change his strategy at talent acquisition from how he did it as Ole Miss’ coach from 2020-25.
“You have an individual plan for wherever you’re at,” he said. “And LSU being LSU in the state of Louisiana – you got so many great in-state players in Louisiana.”
New LSU coach Lane Kiffin sporting the leather in ESPN interview during Texas Bowl. pic.twitter.com/u4my60pMR4
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) December 28, 2025
Kiffin had just spoken to former LSU unanimous All-American wide receiver Malik Nabers of Lafayette – the sixth pick of the NFL Draft in 2024 by the New York Giants – on the sidelines before the game. And he quickly quoted his mentor, former LSU and Alabama coach Nick Saban, on the talent in Louisiana.
“Like Saban said, more per capita than any other state when it comes to NFL players (from Louisiana),” Kiffin said. “So to keep those guys home is a huge priority. To build through high schools and add through the portal is different than what we had to do in the state of Mississippi.”
Kiffin made the portal a priority over recruiting high schools at Ole Miss because the number of high quality prep players in Mississippi is far less than in Louisiana and other top talent states like Florida and California, historically. He pointed out that not one starter on the Ole Miss offense is from Mississippi, and that offense is No. 2 in the nation in total yards per game with 498, No. 3 in passing yards with 312.4 behind quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and No. 10 in scoring with 39.2 a game.
“We talked about in-state recruiting,” Kiffin said. “At Ole Miss, no significant players from Mississippi are on the offense at all, which is probably the best offense in college football. All those guys came in to be a part of what we were doing. So, keep the high school players here, and then add players like we did before (at Ole Miss) and that’s, you know, the sky’s the limit.”
Kiffin said he watched his former Rebels win their College Football Playoff opener over Tulane, 41-10, last Saturday on television. The offense in that game that put up 497 yards was coached by six new LSU offensive coaches brought by Kiffin from Ole Miss who are multi-tasking by also coaching Ole Miss in the playoffs.
“They’re doing a great job,” Kiffin said of his assistants moonlighting at Ole Miss, including offensive coordinator and play caller Charlie Weis Jr.
“You saw their performance in their last game,” Kiffin said. “They came back after that game (to LSU) for a couple of days, and now they’re back there. I was just on the phone with Charlie Weis. We’re talking about quarterback rankings. Sometimes we have our staff meetings, even though they’re back there.”
Those LSU coaches on work release at Ole Miss are juggling meetings with new Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding, whom Kiffin hired as his defensive coordinator from Alabama before the 2023 season.
“When Pete’s done with his, we have our own,” Kiffin said. “We’re just trying to make it work for both sides, so Ole Miss can have the best chance to win a national championship, and we can also be building what we are here.”
Kiffin would be paid a $1 million bonus if Ole Miss wins the national championship, according to his Ole Miss contract. LSU has agreed to pay that bonus for Ole Miss if that happens.
Kiffin beamed when asked about Ole Miss’ win over Tulane.
“It was awesome,” he said. “Man, that was a great day. It really was. I wanted to say that. Watching those guys and how much they were smiling and having that success. It was the biggest game in the history of the state of Mississippi, and to blow out Tulane like that, it was awesome watching them. I’m real excited for them.”
No. 6 Ole Miss (12-1) advanced to the quarterfinals of the playoffs and will play No. 3 Georgia (12-1) on Thursday in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
Hiring his new staff, which he completed a week ago, has taken up most of his time, Kiffin said. That and getting ready for the next Transfer Portal window that opens on Friday.
“Staff and working the time frame with Ole Miss still playing,” Kiffin said. “We’ve had some of our coaches go back there to coach. They’ve been doing both jobs at the same time. But we had some practice at that. When I was with coach Saban at Alabama, Kirby Smart (the defensive coordinator) went and took the Georgia job.”
That was after the 2015 regular season, and Alabama went on to win the national championship that season with Smart multi-tasking.
“He and a couple of his coaches came back and helped us go win the national championship,” Kiffin said. “And then they went back to Georgia. Kind of in a similar position there at Ole Miss. So getting a staff and now working on our own current players and then also evaluating all the players out there with the portal opening.”
Kiffin said he looks forward to bringing Ole Miss’ offense to LSU.
“So much transition,” he said. “We get to bring the offensive system we’ve been running a long time now. We get to bring it to LSU with these great players, whether they’re still here or others ready to come here in six or seven days (with the portal). It’s going to be an exciting time.”
It has been trending that Chambliss and Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy will follow Kiffin to LSU. Asked about coaching Chambliss, Kiffin decided not to discuss him to avoid any tampering accusations.
Kiffin mentioned LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker that he retained along with most of LSU’s other defensive coaches.
“Blake’s done a great job. We’re excited to keep him,” he said. “We’ll keep a lot of the defensive players I think and keep the system the same.”
Kiffin said he plans on trying to keep junior linebacker Whit Weeks, who is dating his daughter Landry Kiffin. Weeks is considering entering the NFL Draft a year early or staying at LSU.
Be the first to comment