Lane Kiffin’s name has been loud around LSU for months, and a new excerpt from an upcoming book has only turned up the volume.
A Vanity Fair excerpt from John Talty’s book, “Lane Being Lane: The Story of Lane Kiffin,” due out Sept. 15, 2026, pulls back to Kiffin’s Alabama years and offers a messy, memorable snapshot of life around Nick Saban’s staff in the mid-2010s. The picture it paints is of a coach whose off-field reputation was already a topic inside the building.
According to the excerpt, Terry Saban had heard through friends that Kiffin, then living apart from his wife Layla and his children in California, was out on the town trying to meet women. That prompted Nick Saban to pass along a blunt warning to at least one staff member.
"You've got to keep Lane away from the girls that are in college," Saban said, according to one former coach. "Just keep him away from the sorority girls. Make sure they've graduated college or are working a job."
The book excerpt also notes that Layla and the children never moved to Tuscaloosa. It describes Kiffin as emotionally worn down by the separation from his family and says he often leaned on drinking to get through the stretches between coaching responsibilities. It also says he was spending money at a level that was new to him.
Kiffin himself once joked about the financial drain in an old conversation with Pete Thamel.
“I used to say there’s a constant daily battle between who can take more of my money between Layla and Obama," Kiffin told Pete Thamel over a decade ago.
“I figured it out. I really don’t make any money.
I pay around 52% percent in taxes. Layla gets 23.5% in the divorce, and [agent Jimmy Sexton] gets 3%.
I make [about] 9%, and I’m living in Tuscaloosa.”
The excerpt arrives as Kiffin settles into LSU after a complicated move from Ole Miss, where he had just come off one of the best seasons in program history. LSU fired Brian Kelly, targeted Kiffin for the opening, and sold him on the chance to walk into a job with more resources, elite talent and a win-now mandate.
That move has already brought its own share of noise in Baton Rouge. Kiffin has been pushing at the edges, including trying to bring former NFL players back against the SEC’s wishes, and the source material makes clear that’s part of the package with him. He’s never been a coach who sits still for long.
The timing only adds to the buzz. Talty’s book is set to come out during the week of the Ole Miss-LSU game, scheduled for Saturday, September 19, 2026, at Vaught Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss.
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LSU Just Got Pulled Into A Roster Fight With Real Stakes
LSUs offseason has taken on a legal edge, with the SEC filing a lawsuit against the school, its Board of Supervisors, president Wade Rousse, athletic director Verge Ausberry and head coach Lane Kiffin over how the program has gone about recruiting former professional athletes. The conferences complaint argues that LSU crossed a line under SEC rules and is asking a court to step in before the dispute grows into something bigger than a roster issue.
The filing is aimed at stopping LSU from being tied to conduct the league says runs counter to its purpose, and the crux of the dispute centers on players who previously signed NFL contracts. At the same time, a separate hearing in Baton Rouge is still working through whether those players should be considered eligible under NCAA and SEC rules, leaving LSU in the middle of a fight with real stakes and no immediate resolution in sight. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Lands In A High Stakes Eligibility Fight Before The Opener
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The conference is seeking injunctions to stop LSU from violating league rules by recruiting and rostering professional athletes, arguing the schools approach is harming the SEC as a whole. A separate state court hearing is also moving forward on the eligibility of specific players, including DaeQuan Wright and Zxavian Harris, adding another layer to a situation that could shape LSUs available options before the first game is even played. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Just Added A Homegrown Twist To Its Clemson Spotlight
College GameDay is rolling into Baton Rouge with a distinctly Louisiana flavor before LSUs showdown with Clemson, and the guest picker this time is bringing some Bayou State star power with her. Lainey Wilson, the country music artist from Louisiana, will serve in the celebrity role and also perform live on the show as the pregame spotlight gets going at 8 a.m. CT.
The staging only adds to what should already be a packed scene, with Rece Davis hosting, Nick Saban among the analysts and Lane Kiffin set for a live appearance as the Tigers build toward kickoff. LSU and Clemson are scheduled to meet later that night at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC, giving the campus a full day to lean into the moment. [Read more 🡒]