Grading the hire: LSU landed its white whale in Lane Kiffin

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Grading the hire: LSU landed its white whale in Lane Kiffin

Blake Toppmeyer and Matt Hayes, USA TODAY · USA TODAY Sports

Sun, Nov 30, 2025 ·

4 min read

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It's finally official: Lane Kiffin is leaving Ole Miss football to be the LSU coach.

Leaving the Rebels while they're in the College Football Playoff will ruffle some feathers, but that hasn't bothered Kiffin before.

CFB coaches on the move: Carousel in overdrive, keep up with hirings, firings

CFB coaching carousel: Grades for each hire, how they fit

Here are our grades, from the Tigers' perspective of the hire:

News media arrive before a press conference by LSU's new head coach Lane Kiffin at South Stadium Club at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge on Dec. 1, 2025.
(Matthew Hinton, Imagn Images)

A sign is seen before a press conference by LSU new head coach Lane Kiffin at South Stadium Club at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge on Dec. 1, 2025.
(Matthew Hinton, Imagn Images)

LSU new head coach Lane Kiffin is introduced at South Stadium Club at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge on Dec. 1, 2025.
(Matthew Hinton, Imagn Images)

LSU new head coach Lane Kiffin speaks at South Stadium Club at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge on Dec. 1, 2025.
(Matthew Hinton, Imagn Images)

Blake Toppmeyer: A

If you'd formed a list of who LSU should pursue after it fired Brian Kelly , it might have looked like this:

Lane Kiffin
Revert to option 1 and get it done.

LSU landed the white whale . The Tigers secured the hire they should have made last time this job was open. Kiffin turning heel on Mississippi before the College Football Playoff is a bad look for the sport and the coaching industry, but that's not LSU's problem at this moment.

Kiffin torched his Ole Miss legacy on the way out the door , but the record books will say he was the program's best coach since Johnny Vaught retired in 1973 after a tenure that peaked in the late 1950s and early '60s.

Kiffin is the nation's best coach to never appear in a CFP game. Considering the coaches who have been to the playoffs aren't leaving their jobs, he's the top pony of this carousel.

Kiffin's mastery on offense will be a boon for LSU, after the Tigers spent the season spinning their tires. He'll upgrade the quarterback production. Just consider what he did with Division II transfer Trinidad Chambliss . Simply sublime. That came after Jaxson Dart and Matt Corral thrived under Kiffin at Ole Miss . He's close to a guarantee for quality quarterback production, and if you have a quarterback, you have a chance.

LSU played the transfer game in its final season under Kelly, but nobody plays portal roulette better than the Portal King himself. Kiffin will upgrade this roster, and LSU will give him the funds to do it. Bet on that.

Can Kiffin meet LSU's demands for a national championship? That's an unanswered question. Kiffin went 0-4 against Nick Saban and he's 1-2 against Kirby Smart.

Also, how well will he recruit in Louisiana? Also unanswered.

Kiffin's career never looked better than it did when he had an SEC underdog punching above its historical weight. Now, he's rolling with the big boys again. That hasn't brought out his best in the past, but that doesn't mean LSU and Kiffin won't pair well.

Penn State hired Matt Campbell as its next head coach. Campbell, 46, coached 10 seasons at Iowa State and was the winningest coach in school history.

(Nirmalendu Majumdar, USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Kyle Whittingham is finalizing a new deal to be the coach at Michigan after 177 wins in 21 seasons at Utah. Whittingham replaces Sherrone Moore who was fired Dec. 10.
(Rob Gray, Imagn Images)

UCLA hired Bob Chesney as its next head coach, ending the longest coaching search in country of a coach fired midseason in 2025. Chesney spent two seasons at James Madison and led the Dukes to the Sun Belt championship game this season after coaching Holy Cross, where he won five conference championships.
(Bob Donnan, Imagn Images)

South Florida hired Brian Hartline, replacing Alex Golesh, who left to become head coach of Auburn. Hartline has been an assistant at Ohio State since 2017 first as wide receivers coach then offensive coordinator and helped the Buckeyes win the national championship last season.
(Adam Cairns, USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Florida hired Jon Sumrall as its next head coach, replacing Billy Napier, who was fired midseason. Sumrall, 43, spent two seasons at Tulane and two at Troy and led his teams to the conference championship game in each of those four seasons.

(Stephen Lew, Imagn Images)

LSU hired Lane Kiffin as its next football coach on Nov. 30. Kiffin spent six seasons at Ole Miss and led the Rebels to a spot in this year's College Football Playoff, though he won't coach in it.
(Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger)

Virginia Tech hired James Franklin as its next head coach. Franklin was fired earlier this season at Penn State. He replaces Brent Pry, who was fired midseason by the Hokies.
(Brian Bishop-Imagn Images)

Michigan State football hired Pat Fitzgerald as Jonathan Smith's replacement. Fitzgerald coached 17 seasons at his alma mater Northwestern, posting a 110-101 overall record.
(Michael Reaves, Getty Images)

Auburn is hiring South Florida coach Alex Golesh to be the Tigers' next head coach. Golesh is 23-15 in three seasons with the Bulls, with three bowl bids.
(Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images)

Ole Miss promoted defensive coordinator Pete Golding to head coach after Lane Kiffin left for LSU. Golding is in his third season as Rebels DC and served as Alabama's DC before.
(Justin Ford, Getty Images)

Morgan Scalley is taking over as Utah coach with the departure of Kyle Whittingham following 21 seasons in the job. Scalley, a former Utes defensive back, was an assistant under Whittingham for 18 seasons and coach-in-waiting since 2024.
(Rob Gray, Imagn Images)

Arkansas is set to hire Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield to lead the Razorbacks program. Silverfield is 50-24 in six seasons in Memphis with a fifth bowl appearance on the way.
(Wesley Hale-Imagn Images)

Oklahoma State hired Eric Morris from North Texas to be the Cowboys next head coach. Morris replaces longtime OSU coach Mike Gundy, who was fired earlier this season.
(Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images)

Stanford hired Washington Commanders quarterback coach Tavita Pritchard to be the Cardinal's next head coach
(Eric Canha-Imagn Images)

Colorado State hired Jim Mora Jr. as its new head coach. Mora led UConn to back-to-back nine-win seasons and replaces Jay Norvell, who was fired midseason.
(David Butler II-Imagn Images)

Kentucky moved on from Mark Stoops after 13 seasons and hired Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein to fill its vacancy. The Kentucky native previously played for Louisville.
(Ben Lonergan, The Register-Guard)

Iowa State hired Jimmy Rogers as its next head coach. Rogers, 38, spent one year as the coach of Washington State after coaching South Dakota State for two seasons and an FCS national championship in 2023.

(James Snook, Imagn Images)

Kansas State has brought back former player and assistant Collin Klein as its football coach after Chris Klieman stepped down after seven seasons. Klein spent the past two years as offensive coordinator at Texas A&M.
(Peter Aiken, Getty Images)

Tosh Lupoi is returning to alma mater California after the school fired Justin Wilcox. Lupoi, a longtime college and NFL assistant, was defensive coordinator at Oregon for four seasons.
(Ben Lonergan, The Register-Guard)

Charles Huff is the new Memphis football coach after one season at Southern Mississippi after leading the Golden Eagles to a bowl game. He previously was at Marshall for four seasons.
(Matt Bush, Special to the Clarion Ledger)

Connecticut hired Toledo coach Jason Candle to replace Jim Mora. Candle won 81 games in 10 seasons with the Rockets.
(Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY Sports)

James Madison moved quickly to hire Billy Napier, a former coach at Florida and Louisiana-Lafayette, after the departure of Bob Chesney to UCLA.
(Matt Pendleton, Imagn Images)

After losing Jon Sumrall to Florida, Tulane elevated offensive coordinator Will Hall to the job. Hall previously coached four seasons at Southern Mississippi.
(Matt Bush, USA TODAY Sports)

Toledo found the replacement for Jason Candle with the addition of Mercer's Mike Jacobs, who led the Bears to consecutive FCS playoff appearances in two seasons at the school.
(Will McLelland, Imagn Images)

Oregon State hired Alabama co-offensive coordinator JaMarcus Shephard as its head coach, replacing Trent Bray who was fired after an 0-7 start this season.
(Jason Clark, Getty Images)

North Texas hired former West Virginia coach Neal Brown as the replacement for Eric Morris, who departed for the head coaching job at Oklahoma State. Brown spent six seasons with the Mountaineers and won 35 games in four seasons at Troy.
(Ben Queen, Imagn Images)

Ohio promoted interim coach John Hauser after the team defeated UNLV in the Xbox Bowl. Hauser replaces Brian Smith, who was fired in December.
(Raymond Carlin III, Imagn Images)

After the departure of Jimmy Rogers, Washington State hired Kirby Moore, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant at Missouri after previous stops at Fresno State and Washington.
(Denny Medley, USA TODAY Sports)

Caostal Carolina filled its coaching vacancy after the firing of Tim Beck by hiring Ryan Beard from Missouri State, who led the Bears to a bowl game in their first FBS season.
(Michael Gulledge, Special to the News-Leader)

Southern Mississippi promoted offensive coordinator Blake Anderson to fill its coaching vacancy following the departure of Charles Huff. Anderson was previously the head coach at Utah State and Arkansas State.
(Michael Madrid, USA TODAY Sports)

Alex Mortensen took over as interim coach of Alabama-Birmingham after the firing of Trent Dilfer. Mortenson was promoted to full-time coach after going 2-4 to finish the season.
(David Butler II, Imagn Images)

Matt Hayes: A-

He was the first and only answer in the coaching hopper for LSU and Florida. One school opened its arms and was up for anything, the other hesitated and wanted some control (see: a general manager to oversee the program).

Guess which school won out?

LSU won big because it got one of the game's best coaches and a majority of his offensive staff. It won because Kiffin can bring what LSU has been chasing since 2019: a wide-open, get out of the way offense. The Tigers had it iin Year 2 under Brian Kelly, and Jayden Daniels won the Heisman.

But LSU couldn't stop anyone defensively, and was never really a factor in the SEC since. Now, the problem: Kiffin's history at Ole Miss is points in bunches, and eventually break serve on defense and get off the field.

LSU had that with Daniels in 2023, and doesn't want to go back to it. The idea isn't to upgrade the quarterback position, or find a way to score points. Until this year's blowout of a season, that hasn't been a problem.

So then what has LSU mortgaged its future (again) for? A coach that must win recruiting battles in the south, that must continue his hot streak of hits in the transfer portal, and must hire an elite defensive coordinator with SEC experience who can get his offense the ball. That's all.

If any of that doesn't play out, and LSU stumbles around and loses to those it shouldn't ― I don't know, Ole Miss ― this shotgun marriage will run flat faster than a gin fizz on a steamy Bayou summer night.

This isn't wait and see. Kiffin must win now. Day 1.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lane Kiffin to LSU football. Expert grades for coaching hire

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See Lane Kiffin's LSU introductory press conference in Baton Rouge

See Lane Kiffin's LSU introductory press conference in Baton Rouge

See Lane Kiffin's LSU introductory press conference in Baton Rouge

See Lane Kiffin's LSU introductory press conference in Baton Rouge

See Lane Kiffin's LSU introductory press conference in Baton Rouge

Blake Toppmeyer: A

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Matt Hayes: A-