Louisiana State University head football coach Lane Kiffin held his first practice Tuesday with the Tigers.
Kiffin spoke with media following the news conference, and stressed he liked what he saw but that the team has “a long way to go.”
He also spoke about how LSU is “just different,” and how he is using that to his advantage.
Kiffin was hired in November, toward the end of his sixth season with Ole Miss.
The Tigers’ first home game in Baton Rouge is on Sept. 12.
About Kiffin:
Kiffin holds a 55-19 overall record at Ole Miss with a 32-17 record in the SEC.
He led the Rebels to four 10-win seasons. Ole Miss has won at least 10 games the last three seasons.
Before Ole Miss, Kiffin was a head coach at Florida Atlantic for three seasons, University of Southern California for three-plus seasons and University of Tennessee for a season.
He also coached the Oakland Raiders but was fired four games into his second season.
A program with four national titles to its credit, including three since 2003, after guiding Ole Miss to double-digit wins four times in six years, including an 11-1 mark this year. Prior to Kiffin’s arrival in 2020, Ole Miss had only two 10-win seasons since 1972.
Kiffin joins the Tigers with a college head coaching career that spans 14 seasons and includes a 117-53 overall record. He has had seven 10-win seasons and led teams to nine bowl appearances. His teams have been ranked in the final AP Top 25 poll five times.
Previous head coaching stops for Kiffin include Tennessee (2009), Southern Cal (2010-13) and Florida Atlantic (2017-19). He also served as the head coach of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders from 2007 to 2008.
In six seasons in Oxford, Kiffin led the Rebels to unprecedented heights, posting a 55-19 mark, leading teams to six consecutive bowl games (including three wins and two New Year’s Six appearances), four 10-win seasons (including the first-ever 11-win season in 2023, the first two 10-win regular seasons in program history in 2021 and 2023, and the first 11-win regular season in program history in 2025), and several of the most statistically significant campaigns in Ole Miss football history.
The 55 wins are the most in a six-year period in Ole Miss history since the Rebels won 57 games from 1957-62, while his 50 victories since 2021 rank behind only Georgia and Alabama as the most in the SEC during that span.
Kiffin’s Rebel teams have broken into the national top-10 in at least one poll in each of the last five seasons since 2021 — the first such streak at Ole Miss since Rebel legend John Vaught’s teams from 1960-64. Ole Miss has played 38 consecutive games as a Top 25 team, and it has been ranked in 62 of its 74 games in six years under Kiffin. Ole Miss is currently ranked No. 7 in the College Football Playoff Rankings.
Kiffin directed Ole Miss to an 11-1 mark, the first time in school history the Rebels have reached double-digit wins in three consecutive seasons. The Rebels also won 11 regular-season games for the first time in program history with Top 25 victories over No. 4 LSU and No. 13 Oklahoma, running his wins over ranked opponents since his arrival to 10. In 2025, Kiffin became the first Ole Miss coach since Billy Brewer, who did it over 11 years, to beat LSU three times.
Ole Miss currently leads the SEC in total offense (498.1) and features the top running back in the league in Kewan Lacy, who has rushed for 1,279 yards and ranks No. 2 in the nation with 20 rushing touchdowns. With a first-time starter at quarterback, the Rebels are averaging 37 points per game.
Considered an offensive mastermind, Kiffin’s Ole Miss squad is the only team in the SEC to rank among the Top 5 in the league in both scoring offense and total yards since 2020. The Rebels led the SEC in total offense four times in six years under Kiffin, and they averaged 33 points or more each year, including a league-best 38.6 points per game in 2024.
Kiffin’s accomplishments at Ole Miss have been due in part to his recruiting prowess, his ability to identify talent and roster management. He signed four straight top-six transfer classes, including the No. 1 class in 2024, while adding five consecutive Top 25 high school signing classes. Kiffin has sent 23 Ole Miss players to the NFL draft, including eight in 2025 — the most for the school since the draft was reduced to seven rounds in 1994.
Kiffin led the Rebels to a 10-3 mark in 2024, setting school records for total yards (6,845), yards per play (7.3), passing yards (4,561), passing yards per game (350.8), sacks (52) and tackles for loss (120). The marquee win for the Rebels was a 28-10 win over No. 2 Georgia in Oxford.
The 2024 campaign was highlighted by first-round NFL draft pick quarterback Jaxson Dart, who led the nation in total offense while dismantling several all-time Rebel records, and the stifling Ole Miss defense, which led the nation in both sacks and tackles for loss. Defensive tackle Walter Nolen earned consensus All-America honors and was selected in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft.
Kiffin led the 2023 Rebels to the best season in Ole Miss history in terms of wins at the time, notching an 11-2 overall record capped by a 38-25 Peach Bowl victory over Penn State.
Kiffin guided the Rebels to a 10-3 record in 2021, the first 10-win regular season in school history. The Rebels finished the year ranked No. 11 in both the AP and AFCA Coaches polls, their highest final ranking since 2016.
The offensive explosion by the Rebels came as no surprise, as Kiffin has shown a propensity for helping turn programs around. In his first seasons at FAU, USC and Tennessee, Kiffin’s team improved in win differential (+3.33), scoring (+10.2), passing (+34.5 ypg) and rushing (+51.3 ypg).
In December 2016, Kiffin took over an FAU program that had won a total of nine combined games over the previous three seasons. Kiffin proceeded to take the Owls to new heights over his three years, including two Conference USA titles and two 10-win seasons.
Kiffin joined the FAU Owls after three seasons (2014-16) at Alabama, where he served as the Tide’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under head coach Nick Saban. He was a finalist for the Frank Broyles Award in 2014, which goes to the country’s best assistant coach.
In 2016, he coached Jalen Hurts to SEC Offensive Player of the Year honors after leading the Crimson Tide to a 13-1 mark, the league title and an appearance in the national championship game as a true freshman.
In 2015, Kiffin oversaw the development of quarterback Jake Coker, who finished his career 14-0 as a starter at Alabama, along with running back Derrick Henry, who rushed for 2,219 yards and 23 touchdowns on his way to claiming the Heisman Trophy.
Kiffin joined the Crimson Tide in 2014 and quickly developed first-time starter Blake Sims into a second-team All-SEC selection when he threw for a then-school record 3,487 yards.
Prior to joining Saban’s staff at Alabama, Kiffin spent the three-plus previous seasons as the head coach at Southern Cal, posting a 28-15 mark. In 2012, wide receiver Marquise Lee was a unanimous first-team All-American and won the Biletnikoff Award while also being named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year. Quarterback Matt Barkley, who won the Wuerffel Trophy, set conference records for passing yards and passing touchdowns.
Kiffin led the Trojans to a 10-2 record in 2011 and a No. 6 final ranking in the AP Poll. The team won the Pac-12 South with a 7-2 mark and featured a 3,500-yard passer, a pair of 1,000-yard receivers and a 1,000-yard rusher. Three Trojans earned first-team All-America honors (Matt Kalil, Robert Woods and T.J. McDonald).
In his first year as the head coach at USC, Kiffin led the Trojans to an 8-5 record.
Prior to his tenure at Southern Cal, Kiffin served as the head coach at Tennessee in 2009. He led the Volunteers to a second-place finish in the SEC East and an appearance in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Under Kiffin, Tennessee’s offense went from 17.3 to 29.3 points per game, while going from 268.8 to 383.5 total yards per contest.
Kiffin joined Tennessee after serving as head coach of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders from 2007 to 2008. At 31, he was the youngest head coach in the NFL’s modern era.
Prior to his first head coaching job, Kiffin spent six years (2001-06) as an assistant coach for Pete Carroll at Southern California, including two years as the offensive coordinator (2005-06). He helped the Trojans capture two national championships and post a 65-12 record. While Kiffin was the passing game coordinator in 2004, quarterback Matt Leinart won the Heisman Trophy when he passed for 3,322 yards and 33 touchdowns.
Kiffin took over as USC’s offensive coordinator in 2005, and in two years at that position, the Trojans averaged 49.1 points and 579.8 yards per game.
Kiffin graduated from Fresno State in 1998 with a degree in recreational and leisure services after playing quarterback for three seasons (1994-96) for the Bulldogs. He began his coaching career as a student assistant at Fresno State under Pat Hill in 1997 and 1998. He moved on to Colorado State in 1999 as a graduate assistant. He spent the 2000 season as defensive quality control assistant with the Jacksonville Jaguars under Tom Coughlin.
Kiffin attended Bloomington Jefferson High in Bloomington, Minnesota, where he played football, basketball and baseball. He has two daughters, Landry and Presley, and one son, Knox.
READ MORE:Lane Kiffin explains how LSU is “just different” after his first practice with the team
