STWF Sports | BATON ROUGE | Dec. 3, 2025 — Four years to the day after LSU shocked the college football world by handing Brian Kelly a 10-year, $95 million contract, the Tigers repeated history—inking Lane Kiffin to a seven-year, $91 million deal to lead the program.
Déjà vu? LSU fans certainly hope not.
Kelly, hired amid hype and national headlines, didn’t even survive half the length of his record contract. His tenure was defined not by championships but by frustration, cultural disconnect, and unmet expectations. LSU still owes him $54 million, a staggering bill that has left an imprint not only on the university but on the entire state of Louisiana.
In fact, Kelly’s failure triggered political involvement at the highest level. Days after the coach’s dismissal, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry criticized the contract and vowed a mistake of that magnitude would never happen again.
“You know, I’m not going to be picking the next coach,” Landry said. “But I can promise you we’re gonna pick a coach and make sure that coach is successful. We’re gonna make sure he’s compensated properly, and we’re gonna put metrics on it because I’m tired of rewarding failure in this country and then leaving the taxpayers to foot the bill.”
Landry’s comments put former LSU athletic director Scott Woodward squarely in the crosshairs. Woodward, who orchestrated the Kelly contract, has since been dismissed. But despite the governor’s tough talk, LSU has once again delivered a contract full of zeros, commas, and eye-popping guarantees.
Lesson learned? Not exactly.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF HIRE—ON PAPER
Where Kelly felt like an awkward cultural outlier from the jump, Lane Kiffin arrives as a seemingly perfect fit for modern-day LSU. Where Kelly was stiff and traditional, Kiffin is mischievous, sharp-witted, and fully plugged into today’s social-media–fueled college football landscape.
Kelly could have pronounced “family” however he pleased had he won, but he didn’t. He never reached the College Football Playoff, never met LSU’s championship standard, and was just 5–3 when he was fired this season. His shortcomings magnified every misstep—every press conference, every joke that fell flat, every staff decision.
Kiffin, by contrast, embraces the spectacle. He’s the SEC’s ultimate showman, a master troll with deep southern roots. He’s already spent six seasons navigating the SEC’s treacherous waters at Ole Miss. Before that, he rejuvenated his career under Nick Saban at Alabama, dominated at FAU, and even had a one-year cameo at Tennessee.
Culturally? He fits.
Schematically? He fits.
But with Kiffin comes Kiffin—the chaos, the controversy, the bravado, the social-media fireworks.
And LSU has decided that’s worth $91 million.
A MESSY EXIT, A MASSIVE EXPECTATION
Kiffin’s departure from Ole Miss was messy, even by SEC standards. The Rebels are in the middle of a playoff push, and yet their head coach bolted for Baton Rouge, dragging out the decision long enough to frustrate nearly everyone in Oxford.
Now, LSU inherits not only Kiffin’s offensive genius but the scrutiny that comes with a coach who commands attention wherever he goes.
This is LSU’s second massive gamble in four years, and the financial commitment is eerily similar. Kiffin steps into a pressure cooker where anything short of championships will be labeled failure.
CAN LSU AFFORD ANOTHER MISSTEP?
Financially? No.
Culturally? No.
Competitively? Absolutely not.
Kiffin has everything he needs to win in Baton Rouge—recruiting power, institutional resources, and a fertile talent base that rivals any program in America. But the ghost of Brian Kelly lingers. LSU cannot survive another big-money flameout. Not after the buyout, not after the scrutiny, not after the governor himself got involved.
The university is once again all-in—chips pushed to the middle of the table, hoping this time the story ends differently.
Lane Kiffin is a bold hire, a flashy hire, a hire built for the modern sport.
But with stakes this high, only one outcome is acceptable.
Winning big. And LSU knows it can’t afford anything else.
