Lane Kiffin is set to decide between remaining with College Football Playoff-bound Mississippi and traditional SEC power LSU on Saturday. His former boss Nick Saban is very familiar with the Tigers job.
Saban led the LSU program from 2000 to ‘04, winning the first of his seven national championships with the program. He helped awaken the dormant power that was the Tigers program, which would win national championships under its next two coaches, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron, but failed to reach the expected level under Brian Kelly. LSU’s leadership believes Kiffin is the coach who can return them to the top of the sport.
For Saban, the big difference comes down to the recruiting landscape. The Tigers are the only power conference program in the fertile Louisiana recruiting grounds, and also have the ability to go into East Texas and other ripe recruiting areas for players. Kiffin has built Ole Miss into a true national title contender, but he’s had to leverage the transfer portal more to build those rosters.
“I think Lane’s decision is going to come down to one thing, and that thing is, ? And I think one of Lane’s apprehensions is, he’s had to use the portal to build his team at Ole Miss each year,” Saban said on Saturday. “And at LSU he probably could recruit better talent and then just supplement his team by need with the portal. And that’s probably the dilemma he has, as well as his loyalty that his team that he’s coaching now, that he wants to be able to continue to coach.”
It is a fair point by Saban, and could come with some insight on Kiffin’s thinking. Kiffin was Saban’s offensive coordinator at Alabama from 2014 to ‘16, a position that launched him back into the head coaching ranks after he flamed out at USC. Kiffin said he will call Saban and former Trojans coach Pete Carroll on Saturday before making his decision.
At the same time, Kiffin has shown that the transfer portal is a valid way to build a roster, and no one does it better than he does. This year’s Ole Miss team wasn’t expected to be a national title contender, but Kiffin has them in position to make a run, and the team could be even better moving forward. Leaving for LSU, even if that program has a higher ceiling, is a genuine risk.
If Kiffin takes the Tigers job, he may also not be permitted to coach in next week’s SEC championship, which Ole Miss will make if Alabama loses to Auburn, or the upcoming playoff. The recruiting calendar, which sees the early signing period run next week from Dec. 3 to 5, makes it pretty untenable for both programs. Saban called for reform to the college football calendar and coaching carousel process last week in light of the Kiffin situation. Even with the messiness that could ensue, he hopes Kiffin is allowed to see the Rebels’ postseason run through.
“What’s best for the players? How about making a decision on what’s best for the players? And that’s for the coach to finish the year.”
