In Nov. 2021, coach Brian Kelly and LSU both found themselves at a crossroads. Kelly believed Notre Dame’s off-field standards had given the Fighting Irish a ceiling, and the Tigers were starting over after canning 2019 national championship-winning coach Ed Orgeron.
Their fly-by-night marriage bore fruit early, with LSU playing for a surprise SEC title in 2022. However, the Tigers couldn’t win big games in ’23, declined to 9–4 in ’24 and fired Kelly after a 5–3 start in 2025.
On Wednesday, Kelly—currently unemployed—sat down virtually with John Brice and Blake Toppmeyer of USA Today. During that conversation, he offered interesting thoughts on his LSU successor—well-traveled former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin.
Kelly thinks Kiffin can do what he could not—lead LSU to a national championship
“I think so,” Kelly said when asked whether Kiffin will win a national championship with the Tigers. “Here’s why I’d say yes. I think that they have invested in NIL for him. I think they have given him the opportunity.”
Kiffin has already started to do damage on that front, nailing down (per 247Sports’s rankings) the highest-rated transfer portal class in the nation. Though it’s early, he’s making strides in 2027 recruiting as well, convincing five-star tight end Ahmad Hudson of Ruston, La., to stay in his home state on Sunday.
“There’s a lot of good things moving in that direction. The recruiting classes, they’re really in solid shape,” Kelly said. “Lane’s a really smart football coach. I think it’s in a really good place, and I believe that because there’s been an investment in that NIL, he’s going to be able to be Lane Kiffin.... he’s not going to take the 18-year-old kid and develop him all the way through the ranks, and that’s fine.”
Kiffin arrives at LSU looking to rehabilitate his image after a widely criticized exit from Ole Miss
Kiffin, one of this century’s most polarizing college sports figures, took charge of the Rebels before the 2020 season after a three-year stint with Florida Atlantic. He almost immediately injected life into Ole Miss, reaching the Sugar Bowl in 2021 and eventually amassing a record of 55–19.
In ’25, however, reports began connecting Kiffin to vacancies at Florida and LSU. As the season wore on, Kiffin’s flirtations came to dominate the headlines, and he ultimately left the Rebels for LSU before the CFP.
Without Kiffin, Ole Miss—now led by ex-defensive coordinator Pete Golding—defeated Tulane in the tournament’s first round and upset Georgia in the Sugar Bowl before falling to Miami in a hard-fought Fiesta Bowl.
Not counting the ’25 Rebels, the highest ranking a Kiffin team has ever attained to close the season is No. 6 (probation-addled USC in 2011). However, Kelly—who lost his most recent matchup against Kiffin 24–19—believes that Kiffin has what it takes to get over the hump and become the fourth different coach to win a national title with the Tigers this century.
“With [institutional support] in place, he can win the national championship,” Kelly said.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Brian Kelly Couldn't Win a Title at LSU—Why He Thinks Lane Kiffin Will.
