By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU’s Board of Supervisors rubber stamped new football coach Lane Kiffin’s $91 million contract over seven years on Thursday and also approved a myriad of contracts for new assistant coaches and other staff hired by Kiffin over his first two weeks on the job.
It’s over. Lane Kiffin is LSU’s next football coach. Press conference introducing him set for Monday at LSU.https://t.co/kTRsVE78Of
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) November 30, 2025
Kiffin, 50, left the head coaching job at Ole Miss on Nov. 30 to become the Tigers’ head coach, replacing Brian Kelly, who was fired on Oct. 26.
Kiffin will make approximately $13 million a year and is eligible for bonuses if LSU wins the Southeastern Conference title, advances to the College Football Playoff, wins a national championship, and is named SEC and/or national coach of the year.
“We got our No. 1 pick,” said LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry at the board meeting. It was Ausberry who directed the search immediately after replacing fired LSU athletic director Scott Woodward.
LSU fired Woodward on Oct. 30 after he hired two of the biggest busts in college football history, based on contracts – Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M at $75 million over 10 years before the 2018 season and Kelly at LSU at $100 million over 10 years before the 2022 season. Both were fired without cause for not winning enough early in their long-term deals, leaving the schools with the burdens of paying the buyouts – Fisher at approximately $38 million from Woodward’s original contract and Kelly at $54 million. Woodward left A&M to be LSU’s athletic director in 2019.
Ausberry interviewed Kiffin face-to-face at an undisclosed location in Mississippi last month.
Among the other contracts approved was a three-year deal at $2.5 million a year for new offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Charlie Weis Jr., who came from Ole Miss with Kiffin. Weis and four other former Ole Miss assistants now at LSU are coaching the Rebels during the College Football Playoffs. The No. 6 Rebels (11-1) host No. 11 Tulane (11-2) on Saturday, Dec. 20, in Oxford (2:30 p.m., TNT).
LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker is following what he calls “The Kirby Smart Plan.”https://t.co/oSBqYh1tX9
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) December 8, 2025
The Board also approved the richest contract for an assistant coach in college football at the moment, which will go to returning LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker at a salary of $3 million for 2026 and a total of $9.3 million over three years. And LSU approved a $1,8 million, two-year deal at $937,000 per year for new offensive line coach Eric Wolford, formerly of Kentucky.
Also approved were contracts for the four new LSU assistant coaches who followed Kiffin from Ole Miss – George McDonald (wide receivers), Joe Cox (tight ends), Sawyer Jordan (slot receivers) and Dane Stevens (assistant quarterbacks coach). Other new LSU staff from Ole Miss had contracts approved for the same or similar positions at LSU – Nick Savage (strength coach), Mike Williams (player personnel director), Thaddeus Rivers (football operations) and Dwike Wilson (director of recruiting).
LSU’s Lane Duck Bowl …https://t.co/rZNjSZ53Ww
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) December 9, 2025
The Board of Supervisors approved a raise for interim coach Frank Wilson, who replaced Kelly on Oct. 26 and is coaching the Tigers (7-5) in practices now and will coach LSU against No. 21 Houston (9-3) on Dec. 27 in the Texas Bowl in Houston (8:15 p.m., ESPN).
Wilson’s salary was increased by $169,583 in November and in December. He was running backs coach and associate head coach before Kelly’s firing. There is still an opening on Kiffin’s LSU staff for a running backs coach, but Wilson said this week that he is unsure if there is a spot for him at LSU under Kiffin.
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