LSU news: Joel Klatt hits Lane Kiffin's Tigers with harsh CFP reality
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LSU football took a massive swing this offseason after a disastrous 2025 campaign that saw the Tigers fire Brian Kelly in the middle of the season. Shortly after the season, LSU went out and stole Lane Kiffin from Ole Miss to be the new head coach in Baton Rouge, which immediately put them back at the top of any and all championship discussions.
Kiffin has established himself as one of the top recruiters and overall coaches in all of college football, and he led one of the best teams in the country at Ole Miss last season despite significantly less resources than he has at LSU. As a result, the Tigers have national title expectations and hopes coming into Kiffin’s first season, but college football analyst Joel Klatt isn’t buying it.
“I’m not hot on LSU this year as a potential national champion,” Klatt said on his most recent episode of The Joel Klatt Show. “I don’t have faith in that culture right now. I think it’s a transactional culture.”
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Furthermore, LSU has been in the headlines leading up to the regular season because Kiffin is trying to bring players back from NFL training camps to play for the Tigers this season. The SEC and other schools have strongly opposed this, but there has been no final decision just yet.
Regardless of what the outcome is, the whole saga has become a big distraction for LSU as it gets ready for a blockbuster season opener against Clemson on Saturday. That extra noise so close to the season is another reason why Klatt is out on the Tigers as a contender.
“I think that that is being laid bare by Lane, fighting for these NFL players to come back and be a part of his roster,” Klatt said. “It’s wild to me. That is a transactional program.”
LSU has a ton of talent on its roster this season, but clearly not everyone is buying the hype. Kiffin and company will have their first chance to prove everyone wrong on Saturday in Week 1.
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