Kiffin ready to make LSU nation’s ‘best program’

BATON ROUGE, La. — Lane Kiffin was introduced as new coach at LSU on Monday, promising to restore it to a place as “the best program in all of college football,” while detailing what he said was an excruciating decision to leave Ole Miss.

His arrival marked the end of a months-long saga in which Kiffin was the subject of rival coaching searches by Florida and LSU while Ole Miss tried to retain him. He leaves Oxford amid a historic season in which the Rebels are 11-1 and No. 7 in the College Football Playoff ranking.

Kiffin said the “last 48 hours, in a lot of ways, sucked,” saying he understood the passion of furious Ole Miss fans who were at the airport as he departed. He said he informed Ole Miss administrators on Saturday night that he was going to take the LSU job, and continued a conversation in earnest through Sunday trying to figure out a solution to how he could continue to coach the Rebels in what he called the “most historic sporting event in the history of the state of Mississippi, a home playoff game.

“There was no way to possibly do it, in my opinion, any better than we did from a timing standpoint,” Kiffin said.

Eventually Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter made the decision that he would not coach the Rebels in the future, which Kiffin said was a decision he respected. He said Carter told him that while it may make sense make sense to everybody outside the program to keep the staff together for the playoffs, he’s the one that has to live in Oxford going forward after Kiffin is gone.

LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry called Kiffin “a big enough personality to operate in a state of big personalities,” and said LSU had no issues with Kiffin continuing to coach Ole Miss. But, he said, the reality is that there’s no rule like in the NFL where teams can’t contact coaches until the season is over.

“That’s not our fault,” Ausberry said. “It was a hand we were dealt, and we had to deal with it, and I had to protect LSU’s interests. I have great friends at all those other institutions in the SEC, but this is about doing what’s right for LSU.”

So Kiffin departed Oxford immediately for Baton Rouge. He arrived, drove by Tiger Stadium, a place he had coached many times, saw it lit up, and said he felt “the power of the place.”

“I called one person. I called Ed Orgeron,” Kiffin said, of his longtime friend and colleague who won a national title as the head coach at LSU in 2019. “I said, ‘hey, man, all I can do … This place just makes me want to talk like you right now.'”

Kiffin’s first 24 hours included a phone call with Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, who took a front-and-center approach to LSU’s coaching situation, which led to the departure of former athletic director Scott Woodward. Kiffin called the call “unique,” with a smile and said, “I could feel his passion and energy in that call for the state of Louisiana and for LSU football.”

Kiffin has a 117-53 record in 14 years as a college head coach at Tennessee, USC, Florida Atlantic and Ole Miss, including seven 10-win seasons. He’s also been a part of five of the most infamous exits in football history: Al Davis detailing his shortcomings on an overhead projector in Oakland, leaving after one year at Tennessee for the USC job, then being fired on the tarmac at USC, followed by Nick Saban dismissing him a week before a national championship game at Alabama, and now leaving Ole Miss for Baton Rouge before the playoff.

He said he did not get emotional by the reaction by fans, including, he said, fans who tried to run him off the road while driving with his son Knox in the car, saying that’s life in the SEC.

“I think that people get really upset when you leave somewhere, because they feel hurt because you’re doing a really good job,” Kiffin said. “They ain’t going to the airport and driving from all over to say those things and yell those things and try to run you off the road if you were doing bad.”

Kiffin credited his three biggest mentors, all of whom he considered among the greatest defensive minds in football: Monte Kiffin, Pete Carroll and Nick Saban. He credited Carroll, who he said promised his late father he’d look after Lane, for encouraging him to make the leap. He hinted that Saban, too, had nudged him as well.

“Coach Saban coached at another place in this conference, so I can’t really say exactly what he said,” Kiffin said, to laughs from the crowd. “But I’ll say, I think the world of Coach Saban, and I respect him. And so there’s a reason we’re here.”

He said his first task is wrapping up the Tigers’ recruiting class with the early signing period beginning Wednesday through Friday. Kiffin said Frank Wilson will continue to serve as the interim head coach for LSU’s impending bowl game, but did not have any further clarity on staff positions.

Kiffin agreed to a seven-year contract with LSU on Sunday that will pay him $13 million annually, including a provision where he will receive the same CFP bonus structure from LSU that he would received at Ole Miss, including $150,000 for the Rebels’ participation in a first-round CFP game, up to $250,000 for a quarterfinal appearance and another $1 million if Ole Miss wins the national championship.

He said on Monday that he was not aware of his contract terms, saying he never asks his agent, Jimmy Sexton, but rather is more concerned with what the financial resources are to build the program, including NIL for players. He said the plan he heard from LSU proved that this was the best job in football.

“When you take the history, tradition, passion and the great players in the state of Louisiana, no one can argue that when you’re in Tiger Stadium on Saturday night, there is nothing like it,” Kiffin said. “This place is built for championships with championship expectations — we understand that — but as an elite competitor that’s exactly what you want and that’s why we’re here.”