By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
New LSU football coach Lane Kiffin held his first press conference on Wednesday since his introduction on Dec. 1, and he explained his flurry of roster activity over the last two months.
“At first people were upset about the large number from the team entering the portal,” Kiffin said of the more than 30 LSU players from the 7-6 2025 team that entered the NCAA Transfer Portal quickly after the window opened on Jan. 2.
Complete Lane Kiffin press conference from today. Story coming shortly.https://t.co/F6Xi4JBS5r
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) February 4, 2026
“What would my answer be to you if I kept the same players?,” he asked. “I don’t have magic dust.”
Translation: Kiffin was not impressed with the talent on LSU’s roster from last season. This is why he let so many leave without argument and signed 41 new players from the transfer portal that was ranked No. 1 in the nation by 247sports.com and was easily the most he ever signed since the portal began in 2021-22.
“Our specialty is our evaluation,” Kiffin said.
But he cautioned LSU fans and media to not assume the Tigers are going to automatically win the national championship next season or automatically qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 2019 season.
“We have a really talented roster,” he said. “Does that mean we’re going to win games? Not necessarily. Does that mean they’re going to be a great team? Not necessarily. But we have a lot of work to do now. We have a lot of new players to form into a team.”
Kiffin regularly had significant turnover as Ole Miss’ coach from 2020-25 with annual top portal classes from 2022 on and produced four 10-win seasons in the last five years, including the Rebels’ first College Football Playoff in history this past season.
“We were able to do that at the previous place after a ton of turnover,” he said. “This is a great challenge.”
Kiffin was asked about putting together the No. 1 portal class in the country and perhaps the best since the inception of the portal.
“I think talent-wise it is, but a lot of that is the numbers,” he said.
Kiffen said his portal class is built for the now with such players as No. 1 portal quarterback Sam Leavitt, a junior from Arizona State, and No. 1 offensive tackle Jordan Seaton, a junior from Colorado. But also for the future because of the 21 players in the class who are sophomores or younger.
“We didn’t just want a bunch of seniors,” he said. “We went to the second tier for the future.”
Kiffin commented on Leavitt’s foot injury that will make him miss much of spring practice.
“Sam will be able to throw in the seven-on-seven drills this spring,” he said. “But probably not will be able to take part in the team stuff.”
Kiffin praised the LSU campus and the city of Baton Rouge for helping attract the portal class.
“The whole town was amazing,” he said. “The people at the restaurants, the hotel, the campus – it was unbelievable. And the players could feel that.”
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