Lane Kiffin opens up on recent decision to delete social media apps

Lane Kiffin has long been known as college football’s most active coach on social media. Long before he landed in Baton Rouge, Kiffin was using Twitter to chronicle recruiting visits and troll rivals. Even a retweet or repost by Kiffin could cause a stir, as few other coaches would dare acknowledge social media drama.

Entering his first season at LSU, Kiffin has deleted the social media apps from his phone. Introducing Kiffin for the first podium press conference of the day, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Kiffin had been off of social media since May 11. Sankey joked that he wants to give Knox Kiffin a hug.

Kiffin said deleting the apps from his phone made him realize he had a social media addiction.

"Once you remove something from your life, you realize how many people are addicted to it or need it." He adds: "If you’re not on (any apps). You don’t see anything. You don’t compare."

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) July 23, 2026

Though it made for an interesting moment during his televised press conference, Kiffin had already discussed his social media decision earlier Thursday morning. Away from the podium, speaking to other reporters, Kiffin opened up on stepping away from social media.

“It’s been really freeing because what you do at the end of the day is you don’t compare anything. … (And) comparison is the thief of joy,” Lane Kiffin told reporters Thursday. “… So, it’s been pretty refreshing, and it’s been an interesting experience for me to see (it). Because whenever I remove something — whether that was bad habits, whether that was food, whether that was alcohol, whether that was toxic relationships or now social media, anything I have removed throughout life — once you remove it, you start to notice how many people are dependent on it.”

Lane Kiffin explains his absence from social media.#LSU @1045espn @LASportsDotNet pic.twitter.com/IjX47dKxHz

— Matt Moscona (@MattMoscona) July 23, 2026

Kiffin’s account has just 1 post since May 11, a poster of Michael Jordan saying, “Time to go ghost,” captioned with 5/11/26.

5/11/26 pic.twitter.com/dPABjcSAxg

— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) June 18, 2026

It will feel weird on “CFB Twitter” if we go a whole season without any posts from Kiffin.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.