Two Truths and A Lie: Lane Kiffin edition

By Chris Marler

That trip to Oxford, Mississippi next year just got even more exciting and fueled with hate. LSU will hire Lane Kiffin as their next football coach, capping off one of the most talked about and captivating coaching carousel moments the SEC has ever seen. Here’s two truths and a lie, Lane Kiffin to LSU edition. 

Truth No. 1 – LSU told y’all. 

This may be the most “I told you so” moment in college football in the last decade or so. From the moment this job opened, LSU had one name they were not going to move away from.

Ole Miss fans thought it was crazy. Florida fans thought it was delusional. But sometimes you have to make someone tell you no. And while rival programs, media and fans scoffed at LSU’s confidence throughout the process, athletic director Verge Ausberry stayed calm in the storm and somehow kept the entire ship steady.

Think about how tumultuous everything was for this program just a month ago. From an optics standpoint it was hard to imagine a worse week or so for a program after Brian Kelly was fired. The coach was fired, the AD was fired, and then the governor stepped in, turning an already messy situation into full-blown chaos.

LSU is still LSU, a premier job in college football and nearly every sport. But what Verge Ausberry pulled off was nothing short of remarkable.

Truth No. 2 – Say goodbye to quarterback worries in this program.

Lane Kiffin has been the most consistent offensive play caller and quarterback developer in the country for the last decade. His quarterbacks have thrown for at least 3,000 yards or thrown for 30 touchdowns in six of his last nine seasons as a head coach. His offenses have ranked in the top 15 nationally in all five of his seasons at Ole Miss, including four finishes inside the top eight.

Outside of Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels, LSU has had a consistently inconsistent quarterback. The regression of Garrett Nussmeier from 2024 to 2025 is a perfect example, especially when you look at all the weapons he had. 

That won’t be an issue at LSU as long as Lane Kiffin is in charge. With the talent he’ll be able to bring in from the state of Louisiana and the offensive firepower he will field each season, every quarterback in the country will want to play for Kiffin at LSU. 

And, if they don’t, he’ll go find a DII prospect that no one wants and turn him into one of the best quarterbacks in the country like he did with Trinidad Chambliss this season. 

The Lie – Lane will win a national title right away. 

Do I hope that Kiffin will win a title in Baton Rouge year one? Absolutely. But, it’s still hard to win championships. LSU has just made it look easy. 

No other program in America has been able to have this level of sustainable success in the last 25 years regardless of who the coach is. Three different coaches have won national titles at LSU, including Ed Orgeron, arguably the worst head coach in Ole Miss history. Landing the best, or one of the best, coaches Ole Miss has ever had is a major win on its own, but expectations should remain realistic.

Expecting Kiffin to bring a national title to Baton Rouge is completely fair, and it’s exactly why LSU made the hire. But, it still usually takes time to win a national title and lay the foundation for what he will try to build here. Only three coaches in college football history have won a national title in their first year at a program: Bennie Oosterbaan at Michigan in 1948, and Dennis Erickson and Larry Coker both did it at Miami in 1989 and 2001. 

Plenty have won it in their first three to four years including Nick Saban at LSU (four years) and Alabama (three years). Heck, even Gene Chizik was able to win one in year two at Auburn.