Former Ole Miss Rebels coach Lane Kiffin finally ended the dramatic wait for his decision when he revealed on Sunday that he was taking the LSU Tigers job. As a result of his decision, Kiffin was barred by Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter from coaching the No. 7 Rebels in the College Football Playoff for the first time in his storied career.
Lane Kiffin Contract: Salary, Term, and Net Worth
According to an On3 report, Kiffin signed a seven-year, $91 million contract, which has catapulted him to the No. 2 spot among the highest-paid coaches in college football, just behind Georgia Bulldogs’ coach Kirby Smart ($13.28 million) and just ahead of Ohio State Buckeyes’ coach Ryan Day ($12.5 million).
Accordingly, Kiffin has an automatic escalator in his contract that will vault him to the top of the highest-paid coaches list should he win a national championship at LSU. He will also receive 80% of his buyout if he is fired, with no mitigation clauses included in the contract.
Before LSU paid his $3 million buyout, Kiffin was earning up to $9 million annually at Ole Miss, according to his latest contract, which ran through 2031 and was renewed immediately after the Rebels’ seventh win of the season. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Kiffin has a net worth of $14 million, accumulated over his 27-year coaching career.
Paule Finebaum Analyzes Financial Aspect of Lane Kiffin’s LSU Move
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry injected himself into the Brian Kelly saga after the coach was fired by LSU last month and promised that the institution would be more fiscally responsible with its next hire after the former coach’s disputed mammoth $53 million buyout came to light. Despite the Governor’s pledge, the Tigers have splashed on Kiffin and promised a significant NIL slush fund to improve the team.
During Monday’s segment of “Get Up,” ESPN’s Paul Finebaum analyzed the financial aspects of Kiffin’s move to Baton Rouge versus staying at Oxford with Ole Miss, taking into account the respective programs’ blue blood status.
“The easy answer is LSU is a much better job,” Finebaum said. “But that is until you look at the last couple of years, where Ole Miss has been the better program and is infinitely better right now.
“LSU fired their coach and paid him $53M. It looks like a better program for this reason, national championships seem to come to LSU. Nick Saban won one. Les Miles won one. Ed Orgeron won one with Joe Burrow. Ole Miss hasn’t won a national championship in college football since John F. Kennedy was President.”
Kiffin will have his work cut out for him in Baton Rouge because the Tigers have not been to the College Football Playoff since the 2019 national championship-winning season under Ed Orgeron and have slipped behind the elites in both the SEC and college football in general.
