Is Lane Kiffin ready for what's coming at LSU? Here comes the scrutiny
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There goes that man, back in the headlines.
Wherever Lane Kiffin goes, the spotlight brightens, and the drama heightens. LSU signed up for The Lane Kiffin Experience. Well, it’s getting all of the Kiffin experience — and the season hasn’t even started.
Already, Kiffin stirred the pot with his recent comments in a Vanity Fair profile that rekindled Mississippi fans’ ire for him, after he left the Rebels on the doorstep of the playoff.
Kiffin typically basks in the attention he generates, but is he ready for the level of scrutiny and pressure that’ll center on him during his first season at LSU?
Kiffin spent more than a decade rebuilding his personal and professional image after he got fired at Southern Cal. Then, he burned it all down for the LSU job. Worth it?
On this edition of “SEC Football Unfiltered,” a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams discuss Kiffin’s comments to Vanity Fair, and they debate how he’ll handle a level of expectation he’s not faced in more than a decade.
Also in this episode, Toppmeyer reveals some details of his recent trip to Baton Rouge, where he interviewed Kiffin and LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry. Adams weighs in on Kiffin’s comment contrasting the blowback he’s dealing with now compared to what he experienced after leaving Tennessee.
Folks, it’s not even June. Buckle up.
Or, as Kiffin would say: Get your popcorn ready.
Is Lane Kiffin ready for what’s coming at LSU?
Adams: 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.
Toppmeyer: I don’t think Kiffin likes being hated. Most people don’t, and he’s no exception. I think it bothers him. Sure, he likes stirring it up. He prides himself in his ability to control a news cycle, but I think he’d prefer to be viewed as the hero — or, at least something hero-adjacent — than being cast as the villain. He enjoyed a period as sort of the pesky underdog at Ole Miss. He rebuilt his image, and his popularity and likability peaked. But, his character arc made a hard pivot when he left Ole Miss on the playoff’s doorstep for LSU. He’ll be cast as college football’s top villain this season. That’s a mental burden. LSU must support him and remind him at every turn that he’s their guy.
People might say this is the most scrutiny Kiffin has faced since coaching USC, but even that doesn’t compare. In L.A., there’s a celebrity on every corner, and USC can get in line.
LSU is LSU, where winning 71% of your games gets you fired, not feted. Ask Brian Kelly.
Will LSU make the playoff in Lane Kiffin’s first season?
Adams: Yes, I don’t say this with unflinching confidence. The schedule is tough, and the pressure will be daunting. But, he’s a good coach, he’s amassed talent, and LSU is spending big to fund his roster. If Sam Leavitt returns from injury in good form, LSU to the playoff.
Toppmeyer: With some hesitance, I say yes — and, I think it’s vital Kiffin make the playoff in his first season. He’s coming from a place where he didn’t need to make the playoff to be celebrated, and I don’t know that he’ll handle it well if he goes 8-4 and faces criticism. A middling Year 1 could get his tenure sideways in a hurry. How to avoid that? Win 10-plus games, go to the playoff and quiet the haters. Drama aside, Kiffin has never been a better coach than he is now. LSU to the playoff.
Where to listen to SEC Football Unfiltered
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. John Adams is the senior sports columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel. Subscribe to the SEC Football Unfiltered podcast, and check out the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lane Kiffin traded his image for LSU football. Worth it?
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