Former LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly said successor Lane Kiffin is “the perfect guy” to manage the spotlight and roster controversy surrounding the Tigers as they prepare for their season opener.
Kelly, speaking Tuesday on SiriusXM College Sports Radio, was asked whether LSU’s effort to add former NFL players amounted to a distraction ahead of Saturday’s home game against Clemson.
He said it did not.
“He’s shown that he can orchestrate it. It’s a bigger picture than what he was doing at Ole Miss. It’s bigger than FAU. And that will be the proof, right? You gotta win football games at the end of the day,” Kelly said.
Kiffin took over in November after LSU fired Kelly during the 2025 season. Kelly finished 34-14 in less than four years in Baton Rouge, including 10-win seasons in 2022 and 2023.
Kiffin left Ole Miss after an 11-1 regular season and a College Football Playoff berth. He went 55-19 in six seasons with the Rebels and 26-13 in three seasons at Florida Atlantic.
LSU opens ranked No. 11 in the preseason Associated Press poll. Clemson received votes but sits outside the Top 25.
The Tigers have drawn national attention by pursuing players who signed NFL contracts this offseason after a Louisiana court order granted extra eligibility to members of the 2022 recruiting class.
Those players include former Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright, who was released by the Cleveland Browns, and defensive lineman Zxavian Harris, cut by the New Orleans Saints.
The Southeastern Conference has opposed allowing athletes who signed professional contracts to return to member-school rosters. A hearing is scheduled Thursday, two days before kickoff.
Kelly said Kiffin’s day-to-day approach keeps the extra noise from affecting preparation.
“Not really. I think the way Lane operates on a day-to-day basis, I don’t think that infiltrates what the players are doing and how they’re preparing,” Kelly said. “Now, if you lose, it’s a distraction. And then that becomes a bigger distraction that you have to handle.”
He described LSU as a program that lives “On Broadway.”
“You know that you’re not out in the cornfields. The whole world is looking at you, I guess is my point. And I think those players kind of enjoy that, and I think it’s perfect,” Kelly said.
Kiffin has remade the roster through the transfer portal, adding more than 30 newcomers, including quarterback Sam Leavitt from Arizona State.
LSU spent heavily on name, image and likeness deals and revenue sharing. Reports put the 2026 roster cost near $40 million.
Kelly, now a CBS analyst, said the standard in Baton Rouge remains a national championship.
“At the end of the day, you gotta win a national championship, and Lane will be held to that same standard,” he said.
Kiffin has said he does not generally support professionals returning to college football but called this year’s court-created fifth-year cases unique.
The Tigers and Clemson met last season, with LSU winning 17-10 on the road. Both teams finished 7-6.Saturday’s game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC and will mark Kiffin’s official debut in Tiger Stadium.
Kelly’s comments arrive as LSU tries to stabilize after an offseason of coaching change, administrative turnover and legal fights over eligibility.
Winning, he said, will settle the rest.
