Lane Kiffin had Jaxson Dart at Ole Miss for 3 seasons, and Dart excelled so much under Kiffin that he was a first-round pick of the New York Giants in 2025.
Dart was a weapon with his arm and especially with his legs, and Kiffin told reporters during his interview sessions on Thursday morning at SEC Media Days in Tampa that he sees a lot of Dart in his new starting quarterback.
That would be Sam Leavitt, the talented transfer from Arizona State who has arrived at LSU with enormous expectations in 2026. Leavitt led the Sun Devils to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals 2 seasons ago, but his season was cut short last year because of a foot injury.
Kiffin believes Leavitt will be just fine this fall and projects him as a first-round draft pick, just like Dart.
“I kind of feel like there’s some Jaxson in there,” Lane Kiffin told reporters on Thursday. “He’s probably actually faster. But that’s the most similar that I’ve seen with him throwing with everything, just kind of working with him and watching him and trying to figure out like, ‘OK, what are we going to look like and how are we going to design it?'”
Dart won a lot of games with Kiffin, threw for a lot of yards, ran for a lot of yards and tossed a combined 72 touchdown passes during those 3 seasons at Ole Miss. Kiffin can only hope that Leavitt has that same level of success under his tutelage at LSU.
Leavitt will be trying to lead LSU to the College Football Playoff in his first season in Baton Rouge. Here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about Leavitt’s chances to get back to the Playoff after helping Arizona State get to the quarterfinals during the 2024 season:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
