LSU insider refutes persistent rumor on Lane Kiffin’s future with Tigers
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LSU insider refutes persistent rumor on Lane Kiffin’s future with Tigers originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
It’s been said that LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin has to make the CFP to avoid the hot seat heading into the 2026 college football season. Tiger Rag’s Glenn Guilbeau doesn’t believe that’s the case.
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In fact, Guilbeau painted a clear picture of how Kiffin isn’t under the same microscope the same way Brian Kelly was last year before being dismissed from the program right before the regular season concluded.
“The word nationally and locally I keep hearing is that Kiffin is under tremendous pressure to win big in 2026 – as in reach the College Football Playoff – because of his contract ($91 million over seven years, third highest salary at $13 million a year) and his No. 1 by far Transfer Portal class (41 players),” Guilbeau wrote.
“And that is wrong. There are great expectations for Kiffin at LSU because of his contract, his wild success with the portal and the tremendous success he had at Ole Miss. But expectations are far different than pressure. Kelly was under pressure entering the 2025 season after LSU and its financial support went all in for his portal class entering that season that was also ranked No. 1. Kelly had to win more or be fired, which is what happened as soon as he fell out of the playoff race in his fourth season. That’s pressure.”
USA Today’s John Adams was one of the national voices that put the pressure on Kiffin to make something of his debut campaign in Baton Rouge, or else run the risk of being fired quickly. Specifically, Adams warned against losing to teams like the 2024 Kentucky Wildcats and Florida Gators, which Kiffin did with the Ole Miss Rebels en route to a CFP snub.
“Kiffin has never faced the level of scrutiny that’s coming this season. He’s been in big-time jobs before, but LSU trumps all of that, especially after the way he left Mississippi. Kiffin can’t help but poke the bear. He says things that are unnecessary. He inflamed the Mississippi situation with his comments in Vanity Fair. As much as he likes attention, I don’t think he’s going to love being under the microscope to the degree he’ll be this season. At Ole Miss, he mostly got a free pass for losing to Kentucky in 2024, or blowing a playoff bid that season at The Swamp. Don’t try that at LSU. That’ll get you fired,” Adams wrote.
Lane Kiffin may have put more pressure to succeed at LSU with preseason hoopla
Guilbeau may not be ready for how ugly things are going to get if the Tigers have any bad losses in 2026. With how much noise he’s made this offseason, between his Vanity Fair hit piece on Ole Miss, the Ed Orgeron hiring as a recruiting assistant, and the nation-leading near-$50 million spend on his first LSU roster, Kiffin may be a firing candidate if the results don’t speak for themselves.
Of course, most just aren’t expecting those kinds of results. Elite transfers have arrived on the edge, at the tackle spots, and in the secondary. Sometimes, though, talent is overcome by toxicity.
This is an obvious situation for the worst-case scenario to unfold. Louisiana State will have the SEC’s most interesting storyline to follow this year. Whether it works out or crashes and burns spectacularly.