LSU’s $73M Lane Kiffin Buyout Clause Tops Brian Kelly’s $54M

Following LSU’s firing of football coach Brian Kelly in October, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry publicly lamented the $54 million buyout the school was obligated to pay under Kelly’s 10-year, $95 million contract.

“I’m tired of rewarding failure in this country and then leaving the taxpayers to foot the bill,” Landry said at the time, blaming former LSU athletic director Scott Woodward for negotiating the deal. Landry further vowed that Kelly’s successor would not receive a similarly extravagant golden parachute.

Instead, LSU has given his successor an arguably more gilded one.

On Sunday, the university agreed to hire Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin on a seven-year, $91 million contract that is worth at least $13 million annually—and up to $17 million per year with incentives.

According to a term sheet, obtained by Sportico, LSU will be on the hook for at least $10.6 million per year if it terminates him without cause. In effect, LSU has compounded a $54 million buyout, which it has agreed to pay after Kelly filed suit, with one currently totaling $72.8 million.

Also, unlike with Kelly’s deal, Kiffin has no duty to mitigate damages and LSU has no right to offset what it owes if he obtains new employment.

As with Kelly’s contract, LSU would owe Kiffin nothing if it were to fire him for cause. However, the school’s recent history shows how difficult, if not impossible, that standard is to rely on in practice. Meanwhile, if Kiffin decided to leave LSU for another job, he is on the hook for, at most, $7 million. 

The term sheet, signed Sunday, states LSU may fire Kiffin for cause if he commits a Level I NCAA violation, fails to “promptly” report another staffer’s violation—including Title IX or “power-based violence” misconduct—or “commits a material and substantial violation” of any school policies. However, Kiffin is to be “afforded seven days” to cure any breach, to the extent possible.

After initially firing Kelly without cause, LSU later retroactively claimed cause to avoid paying his buyout, according to a declaratory action Kelly filed last month in Louisiana State Court. Kelly also alleged LSU had damaged his ability to secure future employment in how it handled his firing. Last week, LSU sent Kelly a letter conceding that he had in fact been fired without cause and that he would be receiving the full $54 million payout.

Beyond Kelly, LSU also owes $6 million buyout to Woodward, who was dismissed on Oct. 31. 

Into this turmoil now steps Kiffin, who just led Ole Miss to its first ever College Football Playoff berth, after defeating Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl last week. Kiffin, despite abandoning the Rebels for an SEC rival, had publicly campaigned to coach Ole Miss in this year’s CFP, a request the university denied. 

Kiffin rued that rebuff in a widely panned statement posted on X.

Among the “ancillary benefits” included in Kiffin’s new LSU deal is a commitment to cover as much as $500,000 of the potential loss on his Oxford, Miss., home he is now expected to sell, if he cannot recoup the purchase price. Kiffin paid $2.89 million for the home.