Lane Kiffin’s first season at LSU already has a spotlight on it, but Paul Finebaum isn’t buying the idea that a national championship has to come right away.
The ESPN and SEC Network analyst weighed in during SEC media days, saying Kiffin will eventually win big in Baton Rouge - just not this fall. Finebaum made clear that he expects LSU’s new coach to get there at some point, but not in Year 1.
"It doesn't really matter what he said here; it matters what he does," Finebaum told WAAY 31 News. "I think he will probably win a national championship. Not this year, but within two or three days at LSU."
Kiffin arrives at LSU after six seasons at Ole Miss, where he went 55-19 and won double-digit games in four of his final five years. His best run came in 2025, when the Rebels finished 11-1 and reached the College Football Playoff for the first time in school history.
That season ended in an unusual way. After the final regular-season game, Kiffin took the LSU job, and Ole Miss administration did not let him coach the playoff run. The Rebels still pushed all the way to the College Football Playoff semifinals before falling in the final seconds to the Miami Hurricanes.
LSU is now asking Kiffin to do what Brian Kelly could not. Kelly went 34-14 in four seasons in Baton Rouge, opened with back-to-back double-digit win years, then dropped to nine wins in 2024. He was fired after a 5-3 start in 2025, with the program still searching for a coach who could turn it back into a true national contender.
The Tigers believe Kiffin is the answer. Some around the sport think he should be able to make the jump quickly, especially after what he just accomplished at Ole Miss and with the resources LSU can offer. Finebaum isn’t putting that kind of deadline on him.
If Kiffin doesn’t reach the College Football Playoff this season, or even win it all, that doesn’t have to be treated like a misfire. It took him six years to build Ole Miss into a team that could make a playoff run, and LSU may not be willing to wait that long. Still, the expectation in Baton Rouge is not that he instantly fixes everything - it’s that he moves the Tigers back toward the top and eventually finishes the job.
If he does that, LSU’s hire will look right no matter what Year 1 brings.
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