Lane Kiffin: ‘I never thought twice’ about decision to leave Ole Miss for LSU
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Lane Kiffin was the most talked about man in college football heading into the 2026 season. Everyone had an opinion, and everyone wanted to share it.
The former Ole Miss head coach and his controversial departure from Oxford ahead of the Rebels’ Playoff run therefore dominated the headlines, but the 2026 season has diffused fans’ interests elsewhere as his LSU Tigers sit at 6-2 entering a pivotal matchup next weekend vs. Alabama.
On Thursday, while speaking on the Brandon Walker College Football Show, Kiffin was asked if his expectations about LSU matched the reality of the job halfway through his first season. In other words, was it worth it?
“Yeah, that and even more,” Kiffin said. “I don’t just say these things as you know. Unlike that Kentucky game, where every day it haunts me, I’ve never thought twice about this decision. Just from getting here and seeing, when you play at home here, the stadium, the environment, the state, the people, how much support there is for football. Then, the kids in the state, how they play, how they love football.”
Kiffin continued.
“We’re 8 games in. We’ve played already as well as anybody in the country at times and we’re a really dangerous team. We’re able to do that in an offseason like we’ll never have before. We got here, then our coaches are still coaching there, going back and forth, didn’t know our current players on the team previous. As crazy as it sounds, we will always have better rosters than we do here.”
Here the full conversation below:
As mentioned above, LSU is set to host Alabama in Week 10, an extremely important game for both teams. Both teams sit with 2 losses on the season, and there are no gimme-games then rest of the way in the SEC.
Ethan Stone is a Saturday Down South News Editor and an advocate for the return of the Seattle Supersonics.
