Is Lane Kiffin Really The Answer For LSU Football?

Seems like everyone is circling around the idea that Ole Miss Head Coach Lane Kiffin is going to be hired as the next Head Football Coach at LSU. Which might be the popular idea now, but is it the right answer for LSU's current football woes?

Let's consider what LSU is dealing with. They're limping to a bowl bid after firing Head Coach Brian Kelly midway through the season. Kelly was let go after LSU lost to Texas A&M 49-25 (a Texas A&M squad that is ranked #3 in the College Football Playoff rankings) in Tiger Stadium. It felt "right" in the moment, but so did hiring Kelly in the first place.

How LSU Football Get Into This Situation

Almost exactly 4 years ago, Kelly left Notre Dame for Baton Rouge, signing a massive 10-year, $95 million contract. Which is what it took to pry the winningest coach in Notre Dame history (yes, ahead of Knute Rockne) away from the program. He took the Notre Dame to the National Championship game in 2012, and two College Football Playoff appearances. He is/was one of the winningest active coaches in college football, and won numerous national Coach of the Year awards.

Over the course of his career, he won Conference titles in the MAC, Big East, and earned a berth into the ACC Championship Game. While at Grand Valley State, he won 6 Conference Championships and got 6 trips to the D2 playoffs. Winning a pair of D2 National Championships.

Kelly paid off quickly too. He led LSU to the SEC West Championship in his first year, and had two 10-win season to start his time in BR. In all three of his full seasons with LSU, he won a bowl game. Not to mention he recruited and coached Jayden Daniels, who won LSU's 3rd ever Heisman Trophy.

Why all of this background on the guy that LSU just fired? Because we should probably compare him to the high priced guy LSU is thinking of hiring. Lane Kiffin is winning now, but what about his entire career? Is it as good as Brian Kelly's was when LSU hired him?

What Has Lane Kiffin Done In His Coaching Career?

Kiffin had a long run as an assistant coach across college football. His biggest break came at USC where he rose from Tight Ends Coach all the way to Offensive Coordinator.

In 2007, he got his first Head Coaching job...but not with a college team. Kiffin's first taste as a Head Coach came in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders.

He was the young, hot coaching candidate, and the Raiders held the #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. Kiffin was given freedom to sign free agents, and was able to build his vision with 6 of the first 100 picks in the 2007 NFL Draft.

Kiffin and the Raiders took LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell with the #1 overall pick (even if Kiffin didn't want Russell), setting up the biggest NFL Draft bust story in history. Which is probably why Kiffin was fired after just 20 games with the Raiders.

From there, he went to the college game. Kiffin was hired to be the Head Coach at Tennessee in 2009. He coached one season there, going 7-6 and losing the Chick-fil-a Bowl.

That's right, he bolted after a single season.

Kiffin ran back out west to take over the USC program he was once an assistant coach for. He had a winning record (8-5) in his first season at USC, but didn't make a Conference Championship game or Bowl game, due to NCAA sanctions. The same sanctions stretched into the 2011 season, where Kiffin led USC to 10-2 record. Again missing any post season play.

In 2012, USC went 7-6, and lost the Sun Bowl. By 2013, USC was spiraling...starting the season 3-2, with losses to Washington State and Arizona State. Which led to one of the most infamous firings in sports history.

Kiffin was met by the USC Athletic Director at the airport when USC landed after the Arizona State game. He was fired at the airport, and the bus left him there, taking the team (and Kiffin's bags) back to campus without him.

(By the way, a guy named Ed Orgeron ended up taking over USC as the Interim Head Coach for the rest of that season.)

After Kiffin was fired, he landed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama of all places. He was brought in to replace Offensive Coordinator Doug Nussmeier (yes, that Nussmeier). Kiffin was the OC for Nick Saban between the 2014 and 2016 seasons. During the post-season of the 2016 season, Kiffin was hired to be the Head Coach at Florida Atlantic. He planned to stay on with Alabama until after the National Championship game, but he was relieved of his duties and sent to FAU.

In his first year with FAU, Kiffin won his first every conference title, winning Conference USA with an 11-3 record. He also won his first ever bowl game that season as well, winning the Boca Raton Bowl. His second season dropped to a 5-7 record, but Kiffin had brought FAU back up to a 10-3 record by 2019.

After three years at FAU, Kiffin was hired to take over the Ole Miss program, returning him to the SEC after a decade. Needless to say, Kiffin's second stint in the SEC has gone better than the first.

Kiffin has never had a losing season at Ole Miss. He's taken the team to a bowl game in every season he has coached the Rebels, and has four 10-win seasons.

That brings us to modern times...where Kiffin is the hottest coaching candidate out there.

What Did Brian Kelly's Coaching Resume Look Like Before LSU?

If you put Kelly's pre-LSU record up against Kiffin's, its not even close. Brian Kelly had a substantially better resume than Kiffin does.

Kelly had been to multiple National Championship games, won multiple Conference Championships, and had 8 bowl wins. Not only was he successful, but Kelly stayed places. He coached over 150 games for Grand Valley State, coached three full seasons at Central Michigan, coached a full 4 seasons at Cincinnati, and coached over 150 games at Notre Dame.

On the other side, Lane Kiffin is currently at his longest tenured job. He's coached over 70 games at Ole Miss since 2020. Before that, his longest Head Coaching job was at USC, where he ended up getting fired at an airport. Just 20 games in the NFL, 13 games at Tennessee, just under 3 seasons at FAU. Until this Ole Miss job, Kiffin was either a job-jumper, or was fired from almost every job he's had.

Before LSU, Kelly had won 3 Home Depot Coach of the Year Awards, 2 AP College Football Coach of the Year Awards, the Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award, the Football Writers Association of America Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, and Big East Coach of the Year 3 times.

Lane Kiffin has never won a season award.

Would LSU Be Willing To Pay Kiffin What They Gave Brian Kelly?

Brian Kelly's resume earned him a 10-year, $95 million contract from LSU. A contract they terminated, and are going to have to pay out. Meaning Kelly will be getting paid to NOT coach LSU though the 2031 season. So whoever gets hired will be getting paid at the same time as Kelly for the next 5 years.

If Kiffin is as in-demand as everyone thinks he is, what will it cost LSU to sign him? Another 10-year, $95 million contract? Maybe MORE!? Do you think a coach like Kiffin with all of the leverage isn't going to demand the same fully guaranteed money Brian Kelly just got? He had Florida and Penn State chasing him too, both of them can afford that.

Would LSU really be willing to pay over $19 million for Lane Kiffin to coach, and Brian Kelly not to?