LSU Football Preview 2026: Is College Football Ready for Lane Kiffin's Tigers?

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Let’s get there faster when it comes to the expectations for Lane Kiffin at LSU.

This might be the diet version of Nick Saban taking over Alabama in 2007.

And yes, it’s absolutely 100% fair to put those unrealistic expectations on this hire.

LSU is a national championship-or-bust program. You don’t get to be the head coach in Baton Rouge unless you expect to win national titles – plural.

And if you’re LSU, you don’t get a head coach like Kiffin without demanding anything less than an era of total dominance.

Lane Kiffin Has Been Good Everywhere He’s Been. LSU is Next.

Now with Lane Kiffin, LSU comes into the 2026 college football season as a true favorite to win the SEC Championship and be a factor in the College Football Playoff.

You think that’s all too hyperbolic? You think there needs to be some roll slowing here? Nah – if anything, Kiffin going to LSU is being undersold.

Seriously, do you really realize what Kiffin has done so far? 

Kiffin made Ole Miss – Ole Miss – a national title contender.

Florida Atlantic had five seasons with threes or fewer in the six years before Kiffin came in, and he led the program to two 11-3 seasons in three years. The Owls haven’t won more than five games in any of the six years since he left.

He was the coach at USC when the Reggie Bush NCAA penalties kicked in, and he still put up a ten-win season.

His one season at Tennessee was the lone winning campaign in a six-year span. 

And now, Lane Kiffin has everything.

He can get anyone he wants in the transfer portal, the parts are there to take the systems that worked everywhere else to a whole other level, and …

Here we go, America. One way or another, this is about to be one fun ride.

– 2026 LSU Schedule Analysis

LSU Quick Hits

• Head Coach: Lane Kiffin (1st year at LSU, 15th year overall: 116-53)
• Best Case / Worst Case: Win the national title/A rebuild of a season and a mediocre bowl appearance
• Key Player: Jordan Seaton, OT Jr.
• 2025 Record: 7-6
• Biggest Question: Can LSU put all the talent together right away to be a national title contender?

LSU Key 2025 Stats

• Rushing Yards: Opponents 1,613, LSU 1,352
• Sacks: Opponents 29 for 224 yards, LSU 27 for 209 yards
• Penalties: Opponents 91 for 773 yards, LSU 91 for 771 yards

Offense

There’s help from co-offensive coordinator Joe Cox, but this is Lane Kiffin’s offense.

Last year’s LSU team couldn’t run, couldn’t move the chains, and averaged just 333.5 yards and 22.8 points per game.

Meanwhile, Kiffin’s Ole Miss offense was No. 2 in the nation averaging 490 yards and 37 points per outing.

With the pieces brought in through the portal, LSU’s offense is about to change fast.

What’s Working

It’s Lane Kiffin. He collects quarterbacks, and he has three amazing ones in an almost perfect situation.

Sam Leavitt (Arizona State) was one of the best quarterbacks in the portal, and as long as his foot is fine after missing half of last year, he’s the perfect fit.

Landen Clark (Elon) isn’t Trinidad Chambliss, but he’s a baller who can move – he’s an ideal veteran backup – and then there’s freshman Husan Longstreet, a special recruit for USC who’s the near future for the Tiger attack.

The receivers are almost unfairly explosive. They’re all coming in from the portal, and they’re all elite big-play targets.

Jayce Brown (Kansas State) averaged over 17 yards per catch last season, and Tre Brown (Old Dominion) and Jackson Harris (Hawaii) each averaged around 20 yards per grab.

Winston Watkins (Ole Miss) and Eugene Wilson III (Florida) would’ve been portal-making signings for just about anyone else.

The offensive line is trying to fix the problem with talent. It’s not a sure thing that it’ll all mesh, but any line would be instantly better with guards Aliou Bah (Maryland) and Devin Harper (Ole Miss) and tackle Jordan Seaton (Colorado). And now …

What Needs Work

LSU has to prove it can run the ball. The Ole Miss ground game was fine last season, but it wasn’t a dominant force compared to the passing attack.

LSU had the SEC’s worst ground game, averaging just 104 yards per game. The main backs in place – Harlem Berry and Caden Durham – are fine, but the attack is about the quarterbacks.

No matter the configuration, the offensive line has to be night-and-day better. It had a nightmare of a time forcing anything for the ground game, couldn’t pass protect, and it all has to mesh immediately.

To hammer this home even further, how much did the lack of a ground game matter? LSU was 1-6 when it failed to push past 100 yards, and 6-0 when it did.

And, in case you were wondering, Ole Miss failed to get 100 yards rushing once last year. It lost to Georgia 43-35.

Player to Watch

Jayce Brown, WR Sr.
It’s easy to get lost in the mix of all the great transfers, but Brown should be a national breakout star on the bigger stage.

He’s both consistent and explosive, averaging over 17 yards per catch in his three years at Kansas State, making 115 catches for 1,972 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Defense

The LSU offense had plenty of issues last year. Had it done anything at a higher level, the defense would’ve taken care of the rest, Brian Kelly would’ve still been around, and Lane Kiffin might have been at Florida.

Kiffin kept around defensive coordinator Blake Baker, a rising star with even more talent to work with this year.

What’s Working

Baker’s defense was even better than the stats. The 38-35 loss to Houston in the Texas Bowl skewed things a bit – the Tigers were missing a ton of key players.

LSU allowed ten points or fewer six games – all wins – and 24 or fewer (including to Ole Miss) in every game but three.

The safeties are special. Tamarcus Cooley is back after making 70 tackles with two picks, and Boise State transfer Ty Benefield will occasionally look like the best player on the field. He made 235 tackles with five interceptions in his three years with the Broncos.

The defensive line transfers are special. This might be the strength of LSU’s haul through the portal, bringing in elite pass rusher Princewill Umanmielen (Ole Miss) along with Jordan Ross (Tennessee).

Malik Blocton (Auburn) is a top prospect at tackle, Stephiylan Green was a big loss for Clemson, and then there are the freshmen.

Lamar Brown, Deuce Geralds, and 339-pound Richard Anderson are special enough to see time right away. 

What Needs Work

How will this year’s defense handle the upcoming time of possession issues? LSU’s offense wasn’t great last season, but at least it wasn’t bad at keeping the clock going.

Kiffin’s teams like to go fast, fast, fast, which is great at keeping defenses on their heels, but occasionally gasses his own Ds.

Call it the cost of doing business now for the Tiger defense to get more production out of the other side.

There’s no real concern at corner with PJ Woodland back on one side, but this is a relatively thin group – it’s all relative compared to other key positions.

Even LSU right now takes a few hits, and losing Mansoor Delane to the Kansas City Chiefs hurts.

Can the red zone defense stay terrific? The Tigers were No. 1 in the SEC in red zone D, allowing teams to score just 74% of the time.

The key was not letting teams get inside the 20 in the first place, and again, there’s more talent to work with.

Player to Watch

Whit Weeks, LB Sr.
Coming off a sensational 125-tackle season with 3.5 sacks and ten tackles for loss, one of the SEC’s best linebackers missed almost half of last year with a leg injury. He’ll be the leader of another great defense.

Keys to the Season

• Can the offensive line be far, far better?
• How quickly will the offense work with all the new parts?
• Get that running game going

Player Who Needs To Shine

Jordan Seaton, OT Jr.
He was one of the best all-around players in the transfer portal, but as good as he is, the Colorado line he anchored was among the least productive in America.

Now he has to be amazing as the best player on a rebuilt line that will be the key to the season.

Biggest Concern

How will everyone handle the expectations?
Even as the head coach at USC, Tennessee, and as Ole Miss started to get better, part of Kiffin’s skill was getting his teams to play up in the big games.

LSU will be everyone’s circle game on the schedule, and the expectations from the start will be enormous.

Biggest Game

Alabama, November 7
Take your pick of games that could and should be LSU’s biggest and most important of the season, but beating Alabama always matters.

With Texas up next, and closing out on the road at Tennessee and Arkansas, there’s a huge problem if the Tigers can’t get by the Tide for the first time since 2022.

Transfer Portal

It’s a jaw-dropping haul of talent. The Tigers got just about anyone and everyone it wanted and needed.

It’s not an overstatement that a starting 22 of just transfers would be good enough to be College Football Playoff-good.

There were a few big losses here and there, but they mostly left to make way for better players about to take over.

Best Signing

Princewill Umanmielen, EDGE (Ole Miss)
Go ahead and take your pick of best players LSU signed, but landing a top pass rusher was among the most important.

The 6-4, 244-pound Umanmielen was a huge recruit for Nebraska, and he had a few nice moments, but it all came together last year at Ole Miss with 44 tackles, nine sacks, and 13 tackles for loss.

Biggest Loss

Carius Curne, OT (Ole Miss)
He took over the left tackle job late last year after mostly working on the right side, and now the 6-5, 320-pounder will be a key part of the Ole Miss line at one of the tackle jobs.

Other Names to Know

• Malik Blocton, DT (Auburn)
• Aliou Bah, OG (Maryland)
• TJ Dottery, LB (Ole Miss)

CFN Season Prediction

Here’s the thing about being a team as talented as LSU will be – the schedule shouldn’t be a barrier.

Of course it would be nice to have a slew of layups to make things easier, but even with so many landmines in the SEC schedule, and an opener against Clemson, nothing less than a spot in the College Football Playoff will be okay.

CFN Prediction: 10-2

For almost anyone else, a schedule with Clemson, at Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama, Texas, and at Tennessee would be a non-starter – good luck, and hope you have a good time.

But the dates with the Aggies, Crimson Tide, and Longhorns are all in Death Valley. 

It’ll be emotional, but LSU is better than Ole Miss, and it’s better than Kentucky, Auburn, and Arkansas – those last three all failed to go bowling last year. 

Throw in the home dates against McNeese State and Mississippi State, and the Tigers don’t play any FBS teams that finished with six or more wins in all of October.

Even better, the Tigers miss Georgia and Oklahoma, along with dangerous Florida, Missouri, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt teams.

But again, if you’re LSU, and you have Kiffin, and you have all this talent amassed, it’s all about the Lane Train.

Related: LSU Football 2026 Schedule: Full Breakdown and Season Outlook

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