Turbulent waters have been synonymous with Lane Kiffin’s coaching career.
He was fired on a tarmac at the airport in Los Angeles, ending his stay at USC, and was relieved of his duties as offensive coordinator a week before Alabama won the 2017 national championship.
Less than a week before Kiffin’s debut at LSU, which hosts Clemson at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, those same waves have come crashing again.
“I’ve lived in chaos for a long time and I like to say chaos is OK as long as it’s controlled chaos, especially in this room with your players,” Kiffin said Monday during his first press conference for the season opener.
Kiffin has accepted three commitments from players that have garnered their eligibility from a temporary restraining order, two of which were cut recently from NFL teams in training camp, and remains hopeful they will all be in uniform in Tiger Stadium.
He said tight end Dae’Quan Wright, his former tight end at Ole Miss, and defensive end Junior Tuilhalamaka have both practiced with the team, but both players, along with defensive lineman Zxavien Harris, face another hurdle in a Baton Rouge courtroom before their eligibility is granted.
Judge William Jorden, who signed a temporary restraining order last week, will preside over a hearing for a preliminary injunction against the NCAA. That case will also include the Southeastern Conference and its commissioner Greg Sankey.
“There’s no intent, nor there ever was, to play somebody we’re not supposed to in order of an SEC rule,” Kiffin said. “We’ll be practicing, focused on Clemson and spending our time on that all week and they can figure out the rest. We’re just waiting for guidance.”
Kiffin said in keeping with the league’s mandate, each school must forward its 105-man roster Friday with no wiggle room for the entire season.
“You have to make decisions by Friday for that,” Kiffin said.
In the event of a favorable ruling, Kiffin didn’t say Saturday’s opener was the target date to play any of his new players, or any that may subsequently want to transfer, but compared it to a ramp up that mirrors that of the NFL.
“It’s a long season,” he said. “NFL takes people in Week 1, knowing they’ll have them ready by Week 2-3-4 and then they’ll be playing their best.”
Kiffin’s not immune to criticism from media and fans of the teams he’s coached against. He’s simply loyal to one person – in this case LSU – and the players he coaches.
“I don’t make decisions which benefits me personally and what it does to my reputation or how people outside of here view me,” he said. “That’s really in the minority of thinking that way and I’ve always thought that way. Even if it’s a couple of players that maybe don’t start, if it makes your team better, and it’s legal to do and your players want it, I’ll take the hit publicly for it.
“That’s my job,” he said. “It’s not for other schools, other people, media … any of that. My job is for the people that hired me, what they want me to do and the players in this room. That’s how I’ve always operated.”
Kiffin’s maintained a sense of transparency with his team. He introduced the prospect of additional players joining the roster before the team’s leadership group which he said were in agreement of making the team better.
“Every coach runs their program the way they want to,” he said. “They see things differently and I respect that. We create systems that help this for people coming late. (Ole Miss quarterback Trindidad) Chambliss came to us in the summer. I think we can do it with other players.”
When rumors swirled during the 2025 season, and Kiffin was the name of choice for several different open head coaching positions, he said his team never wavered and won seven consecutive games – the last two after his departure to LSU – and reached the third round of the College Football Playoffs.
“Going back to the Oklahoma game, it was, ‘He’s taking this job, he’s taking this job’. They said there’s no way this team could be focused if you don’t come out and make an announcement, and the team went undefeated the rest of the season. That’s overrated. Just like if we play good, doesn’t mean we have all of the answers there. Just like if we don’t play as well as we like.
“Players have to make plays in games,” he said. “I’ve said it before to our staff, to our players. In our program we’re going to have chaos, but we’re going to have controlled chaos and our team’s going to understand why we do what we do.”
