Lane Kiffin’s personal life is back in the spotlight after a Vanity Fair excerpt pulled a harsh old quote into the conversation and reopened a story that has followed him for years.
The line that got the most attention came from Nick Saban, who was quoted as telling staff to keep Lane Kiffin away from sorority girls. The passage also said he wanted to make sure the girls had graduated or were working a job. The excerpt, drawn from John Talty’s book Lane Being Lane, was described this week as “insane.”
It also painted a wild picture of Kiffin’s time working under Saban. According to the passage, he would go off the rails at times, including one instance when a staffer had to go retrieve a golf cart Kiffin left at a bar. One of his friends believed he would “Drink himself to death.”
Those details landed against the backdrop of Kiffin’s marriage to Layla Kiffin, which ended in 2016 after 12 years. The couple announced their split in February 2016 shortly after winning a national championship at Alabama, and Layla later filed for divorce in Los Angeles in March 2016, citing irreconcilable differences. They sought joint legal and primary physical custody of their three children: Landry, Presley, and Knox.
Now, though, the story has shifted. Kiffin and Layla eventually rekindled their relationship after nearly a decade apart. Kiffin also made major personal changes, including getting sober in 2021.
Hints of the reunion started showing up on social media. During the holidays, Kiffin posted a family photo with Layla that sparked reunion speculation. After that, he seemed to make things even clearer by sharing an Instagram story marking a “one-year anniversary” with Layla.
He also publicly thanked her for “being my rock” and defended how they handle their finances together. Kiffin said he was more than happy to share his success with the mother of his children.
The family connection has only grown tighter. Layla and their son Knox moved to Oxford, Mississippi, so their daily lives could revolve more closely around family and football. And when Kiffin took the head coaching job at the LSU Tigers Football, Layla was there beside him at the introductory press conference.
Today, the two are operating as a team.
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Lane Kiffin, Verge Ausberry and LSU now find themselves in the middle of a separate SEC lawsuit tied to the broader fight over the injunction, adding another layer to an already messy dispute. For LSU, the issue is no longer just about how one ruling affects eligibility, but how far the conference is willing to go in challenging the school and its people as the legal battle keeps unfolding. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Fans Will Be Watching This Baton Rouge QB Family Showdown
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Knox Kiffin, the three-star quarterback and son of LSU head coach Lane Kiffin, will be on one sideline, while Colton Nussmeier, a four-star Georgia commit and younger brother of NFL quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, will be on the other. For LSU followers, it is a familiar kind of early-season intrigue, with two local family storylines intersecting before the high school calendar even gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]