LSU head coach Lane Kiffin is no stranger to both controversy and winning. From the time Al Davis relieved him of duty using a projector to USC firing him on the tarmac, the coach doesn’t make friends. Yet there is a measure of success with Kiffin that few coaches can boast of. Additionally, he brought the University of Mississippi from relative obscurity to the College Football Playoff.
Now, if you include the constant change in how the law and college sports intertwine, you have to guess that Kiffin would somehow be present. As conferences continue to extricate themselves from the NFL, many find fault with Kiffin, blaming him for serving as the catalyst. One college football analyst offers a very strong take about Kiffin’s role in recent developments.
CFB Analyst Slams LSU Head Coach Lane Kiffin over Recruiting NFL Players
Kiffin, through his various stops, engineered a polarizing personality. If he coaches your team, that fanbase and the media attached to it love him. Yet, those who don’t appear to grow tired of him. Recently, LSU secured a commitment from former Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright, who cleared waivers after being cut by the Cleveland Browns.
FOX Radio host Aaron Torres did not hold back about the discussion and called out the LSU coaching staff.
“The season hasn’t even started, and he’s back in the news for cutting corners and not even pushing every boundary, pushing past every boundary, breaking whatever rules are in place,” Torress said about Kiffin.
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The loophole of luring a player back from the professional ranks to college annoyed not only Torres but most in college football. Kiffin didn’t seem to have any issue with the process, pursuing the right even while in an NFL camp. In Torres’ estimation, if this were a singular situation, you could possibly extend grace. Yet, Kiffin’s track record is lengthy.
“This was orchestrated by the LSU staff to get former NFL players onto their roster,” he added. “And so, as I’ve said a few times already on this segment, this is who Lane Kiffin is, and a tiger can’t change its stripes.”
In January 2017, Alabama let Kiffin go before that season’s national championship because Kiffin had accepted the head coaching job at Florida Atlantic. Fast-forward to last season, in the midst of Mississippi’s best season in decades, he left before the CFP to take the LSU job.
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At the same time, conferences, including his own, decided to close the loophole and end the thought of an athlete with a pro league on the résumé going back to college. In a way, Kiffin’s actions had the opposite effect from what he intended. Torres closes with his unvarnished opinion.
“This guy pushes every boundary, and basically, you know what he is? He’s a con man because he tries to put out this front of ‘Oh, it’s not you, you know; we’re just doing what everybody does.’ No, you’re not, and you never do.”
Kiffin, backed by deep LSU money, will attempt to build the Tigers back into a title threat. With a war chest of money, the pressure to win increases. LSU, with its new coach, still needs to win games. Whether they can remains to be seen.
