By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU football coach Lane Kiffin is a quick study. And he has been catching on swiftly to how things are down here in South Louisiana.
He even has a twitter hashtag describing LSU from his first press conference on Dec. 1 as coach – “It’s Just Different.” One of the first restaurants he checked out was the iconic Phil’s Oyster Bar, and he’s noticed that even gas station food here is restaurant quality.
Real seafood!! #ItsJustDifferent 👢 pic.twitter.com/aRc8yxamQo
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) December 20, 2025
But Kiffin just goofed. Someone needs to tell him how important and “just different” the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is at The Fairgrounds, and how it is to be scheduled around.
Because Kiffin just decided on his dates for spring football. It starts on Tuesday, March 24 and features three more practices that month – the 26th, 28th and 31st. LSU will then practice on April 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18, 21, 23 and 24th.
How much the public and media get to attend remains to be seen. But there is no spring game scheduled at the moment. Kiffin stopped doing those while previously at Ole Miss. And that’s good, because they have never been very popular or well attended at LSU.
But there are two conflicts with the Jazz Fest – opening day on Thursday, April 23, and Friday, April 24. LSU will be practicing both days.
This means LSU players will not get to partake in Jazz Fest on those days, and there are many Tigers from the New Orleans area who have. And on Thursday, they’ll miss “The Blind Boys Of Alabama” band, but maybe they’ll get to see a version of them on Nov. 7 when the Crimson Tide comes to Baton Rouge.
Red alert. Spring football spills into Jazz Fest this year @SportBeatTweet https://t.co/4id3QeKwmY
— Jeff Palermo (@jeffpalermoLRN) February 13, 2026
And the media members who must cover spring football, whether they are allowed to watch practice or not, may also have to miss most or all of the first two days of Fest-ing. This has happened before. Former coach Nick Saban’s spring schedule conflicted with Jazz Fest at times, but for the most part LSU spring football has artfully or accidentally missed Jazz Fest time in recent decades.
The Jazz Fest does its part to avoid conflicts. It always falls on the last full weekend of April and first weekend of May. Easy enough.
When there are conflicts, though, often the Jazz Fest wins. For example, when Bruce Springsteen appeared at Jazz Fest on Sunday, April 29, 2012, LSU was hosting Georgia in baseball that afternoon. And mysteriously, multiple media members who covered LSU baseball habitually at the time were absent.
It happens, and it may happen again this first weekend of April.
The good news is the Jazz Fest best acts will be after LSU is done with spring football, such as Stevie Nicks, Bruce Hornsby, Samantha Fish, Sonny Landreth and Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers on Saturday, April 25, which could’ve been the natural date for a spring game. But Kiffin doesn’t like spring games. So, thanks for that.
Also avoiding LSU spring football will be Rod Stewart on April 26, Widespread Panic on April 30, The Eagles on May 2 and Earth, Wind and Fire and Jon Cleary on May 3.
Lane, you should check it out. You can tweet from there.
And if you like Baton Rouge gas station food, you may never leave Jazz Fest!
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