BATON ROUGE — What is Lane Kiffin like?
Should be a complex question, but it isn’t. Not after watching him in his first eight months as LSU’s head football coach.
He’s like the guy in the movies who plants the dynamite and calmly walks towards the camera smiling while everything behind him explodes into a huge fireball.
He’s the dude in handcuffs in the interrogation room who answers questions for hours and says absolutely nothing.
He’s the chillin’ villain dancing to his own beat when there’s no music playing.
Heading into game week of LSU’s Sept. 5 season opener vs. Clemson, there has been zip revealed about Kiffin’s first squad other than it has 49 transfers from four-year colleges.
Kiffin has spoken more than 25,000 words in his preseason camp press conferences. If you missed all of them, here are a synopsis of his quotes.
“Really happy how we’re kicking field goals.”
“I feel like the receivers have done a really good job.”
“I feel like our defense is playing well.”
“The offensive line is coming together. There’s lots of different pieces from different places.”
Kiffin obviously is most comfortable when he’s lounging the gray area, whether it’s revealing nothing about his team or his process of recruiting transfers from other schools and the NFL.
There was this extremely logical question to Kiffin in this past Monday’s press conference about buying more players at this late date:
Reporter: How do you find the money and position spots available?
Kiffin: “We’re trying to figure that out.”
Does that mean having LSU athletics director Verge Ausberry squeeze already financially tapped out Tigers Sugar Daddies for more millions to pay the late arriving talent?
Or does that mean Kiffin cuts players who have busted their butts in spring and preseason practice climbing the depth chart?
Yes, Kiffin, has stated repeatedly he’s charged with acquiring the best possible talent to win games. Because that’s his job.
And to abide by the rules, which is a problem. Because there are no rules.
If there’s a rule, you get a lawyer and home field judge to produce a temporary restraining order to execute a legal misdirection play.
Kiffin, always the one to climb a flagpole in a hurricane, knew he would be roasted (again) by everyone in the free world who gave a damn because he was committing recent college players cut from NFL teams.
“Because of these rulings, they’re either going to play for you or they’re going to play somewhere else around the country,” Kiffin said.
What supposedly made it worse is CBS Sports reported that Kiffin and the Tigers reached out to multiple players on NFL rosters or their representation to encourage them to file a lawsuit against the NCAA and return to school. CBS Sports also reported that LSU had conversations with others who remain in NFL camps ahead of the league’s cut day on Aug. 30.
This all started when the NCAA changed its eligibility rules in June to allow athletes to play for five seasons within a five-year timespan which begins either when they enroll in college or in the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever comes first. The previous eligibility rule allowed players to compete for four seasons during a five-year window without any specific age restriction. When the NCAA voted for the change, the Division I Board of Directors opted not to include outgoing seniors who played four seasons in their first four years in college even though they would have been eligible for a fifth season under the new rules.
NCAA officials reasoned they did not want a sudden wave of returning fifth-year players swiping roster spots from incoming freshmen, many of whom had already signed on to play for their teams by the time the rule was changed.
The argument of the players filing lawsuits is that they didn’t have the choice to return for another college season. They had exhausted their eligibility at the end of last season and had to enter the NFL.
Thus, there’s a tsunami of lawsuits in state and federal courts. Judges have granted temporary restraining orders allowing cut NFL and NBA players to compete in the upcoming college season while their case is pending.
“This is an extremely unique situation,” Kiffin said. “I can’t predict the future, but that I don’t think you’d have this again.”
Kiffin doesn’t like to be told “no.” When he was initially rebuffed by quarterback Sam Leavitt and offensive tackle Jordan Seaton while transfer portal shopping in January, Kiffin hopped on a plane to track them down to close deals for each player to sign with the Tigers.
Those key elements of the 2026 team and the rest of the squad should be Kiffin’s total focus.
He doesn’t need to chase any more talent at this point, especially in light of SEC commissioner Greg Sankey announcing severe sanctions for any league school signing a pro player.
Among other things, Kiffin would be suspended for half a season, LSU would pay a fine equal to 50 percent of its football budget and the league would rescind LSU’s voting rights in league legislation.
None of that is worth another tight end. Or a couple of defensive ends.
Shut it down, Lane. Sankey called your bluff. Fold your hand.
At least think about the LSU fanbase. They want to get excited about the start of the season. They are fatigued by all the lawsuits.
Saturday Night in Tiger Stadium can’t happen soon enough.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com