Lane Kiffin didn’t waste any time setting the tone for his new chapter in Baton Rouge. During ESPN’s broadcast of the Texas Bowl, the freshly minted LSU head coach made it clear: the transfer portal may have built his brand at Ole Miss, but at LSU, he’s looking to build something more traditional - and potentially more sustainable - through high school recruiting.
“LSU being LSU, in the state of Louisiana - you got so many great in-state players,” Kiffin said from the sidelines in Houston, where LSU was taking on Houston in the Texas Bowl. And he’s not wrong.
Louisiana has long been a hotbed of elite football talent, consistently producing NFL players at one of the highest per capita rates in the country. Kiffin even leaned on a familiar voice to back that up: “Like Saban said, more per capita than any other state when it comes to NFL players.”
That’s the kind of recruiting advantage Kiffin didn’t have at Ole Miss. Mississippi has talent, sure, but not the depth or volume of Louisiana.
And that shaped how he built his roster in Oxford - heavy on the transfer portal, light on in-state high school recruits. In fact, he pointed out that not a single starter on Ole Miss’ high-powered offense hailed from Mississippi.
That unit - ranked No. 2 nationally in total offense, No. 3 in passing, and No. 10 in scoring - was built almost entirely from outside the state.
“We talked about in-state recruiting,” Kiffin said. “At Ole Miss, no significant players from Mississippi are on the offense at all, which is probably the best offense in college football. All those guys came in to be a part of what we were doing.”
Now, the plan is to flip that script at LSU: lock down the borders, build through Louisiana’s deep high school talent pool, and then supplement with the portal when needed. It’s a strategy that’s worked for LSU before - and one Kiffin seems eager to embrace.
But don’t think he’s leaving the portal behind entirely. With the next transfer window opening soon, Kiffin and his newly assembled staff are already deep into evaluations. That staff, by the way, includes six offensive assistants he brought with him from Ole Miss - the same group that just coached the Rebels to a dominant 41-10 win over Tulane in their College Football Playoff debut.
“They’re doing a great job,” Kiffin said of the coaches who are still wearing two hats - helping Ole Miss chase a national title while beginning their work at LSU. That includes offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., who’s been juggling staff meetings with Kiffin even while preparing Ole Miss for their Sugar Bowl showdown against Georgia.
“I was just on the phone with Charlie Weis. We’re talking about quarterback rankings,” Kiffin said. “Sometimes we have our staff meetings, even though they’re back there.”
It’s an unusual setup, but not an unprecedented one. Kiffin referenced his time at Alabama under Nick Saban, when then-defensive coordinator Kirby Smart took the Georgia job but still helped the Crimson Tide win a national title before heading to Athens full-time. Kiffin’s hoping for a similar outcome with his former Ole Miss staff, now moonlighting as LSU’s future brain trust.
For Kiffin, the excitement is real - and personal. Watching his former team dominate Tulane in what he called “the biggest game in the history of the state of Mississippi” clearly meant something.
“Man, that was a great day,” he said. “Watching those guys and how much they were smiling and having that success… it was awesome watching them. I’m real excited for them.”
Ole Miss, now 12-1 and ranked No. 6, will face No. 3 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl - a game that will be played just down the road from Kiffin’s new home base. While the Rebels chase a title, Kiffin’s focus is split between wrapping up staff hires, evaluating portal prospects, and laying the foundation for his first full recruiting cycle at LSU.
He’s already made a few key decisions. Defensive coordinator Blake Baker is staying on, along with most of LSU’s defensive staff - a sign of continuity on that side of the ball. Kiffin praised Baker’s work and hinted that many of the Tigers’ defensive starters could be returning as well.
And yes, he’s hoping to keep junior linebacker Whit Weeks in Baton Rouge - not just because Weeks is a difference-maker on the field, but also because he’s dating Kiffin’s daughter, Landry. That’s a recruiting pitch you don’t hear every day.
As for the game itself, Kiffin admitted he didn’t catch much of it live - at least not beyond Barion Brown’s electric 99-yard kickoff return to start things off. “And then I got on the phone,” he said.
“Agents. That’s the world we live in now.”
With his LSU contract finalized, Kiffin is all in. He’s bringing his offensive system, his staff, and his portal savvy to Baton Rouge. But this time, he’s got something else on his side: a state loaded with talent, a program with national title expectations, and a fanbase ready to see what happens when the Portal King turns Tiger King.