“Lane” shift ahead

By: TONY MARKS
Editor

TAMPA, Fla. - Relationships matter. But, sometimes, these relationships get toxic when they focus on inordinate attachments instead of what really matters in life, such as family matters.
Several months after taking the head coaching job at LSU, Lane Kiffin took the advice of his son, Knox, and went on a cleanse of a certain kind of toxic relationship. “I think as I look back over my life, one of the things that has been great is subtracting things as you get older,” he expressed. “I think that’s a big part of growth.”
He continued, “If you really want to keep growing, a lot of people add things as they go versus subtracting things that are issues. Whether that’s diet, whether that’s in my situation alcohol, whether that’s things that are subtracted along the way, toxic relationships, things that as you grow you decide, okay, I’m going to continue to grow.”
This growth in Kiffin’s life is getting off of social media. “I got off of all of it,” he said. “Then it was still on there. I said, okay, I’m going to go to another level, and I just deleted the apps. Wasn’t a long-term plan. It was really interesting to see as I went through it because Knox pushing me to do that, challenging me, allowed me to help other players, friends, coaches to say, man, you should try this sometime because once you remove something from your life, you start to realize how many other people are addicted to it or need it.”
For Kiffin, this time away from social media has allowed him to live more in the present and not focus on everyone else around him. As he said, “To be free of that has been interesting because you don’t compare. Because now social media does what? You sit there all day long, and you start to compare your job. You start to compare the city you live in. You start to compare your vacation, your kids, your clothes, your car, your significant other. When you don’t see that all day, you’re free of that comparison.”
Kiffin’s reflection on his social media cleanse came during SEC Media Days, which was held in Tampa, Fla. The event came seven months after he was involved in a contentious hiring process that saw him leave Ole Miss in the middle of a playoff run to take the job in Baton Rouge.
For Kiffin, the decision to take the LSU coaching job came after the passing of wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan.
As he said, “I made a decision that I changed jobs, and as I get older and I go through things and losing both parents -- I kind of said something that might sound kind of funny to you, but, you know, I watched the Hulk Hogan special. I realized something. I was, like: We’re all going to die. And so some of the things that we put importance on, we worry about, and what this person says and that, really aren’t going to matter.”
“When I lost my dad I started thinking that,” he continued. “I really started thinking, when I grew up there were two people that I thought just wouldn’t die... my dad and Hulk Hogan. Then I watched that special, and Hulk Hogan died too. Like, there was no way that Hulk Hogan was ever going to not wrestle and die, and he did.”
Taking over for Kiffin at Ole Miss is Pete Golding, who served previously as the Rebels’ defensive coordinator.
“Lane and I are good,” Goldling said. “Our relationship really grew in those three and a half years, and he did a lot for me. And I was very, very appreciative how he treated me and my family. I learned a lot from him. I have no ill will towards Coach Kiffin.
Golding later said, “I’ll be the first one to tell you I told (Kiffin) I would think he was dumb if he was to leave. I wanted him to stay. It was a selfish decision because I loved being the DC where I was at. He decided what was better for him and his family and that’s for him to decide. No ill will towards him at all. Wish him the best of luck. We play him like every other SEC team, and we are going to both show up and spot the ball and play.”
He continued, “I talk to (Kiffin) on a regular basis. No ill will at all and really appreciative of how he treated me and my family, and then this created an unbelievable opportunity for me as well on top their really wasn’t looking for but so appreciative to have.”
Now that he is in Baton Rouge, Kiffin is thankful for the environment around him. He said, “So these seven months at LSU have been awesome. It’s been amazing to come into Baton Rouge in the state of Louisiana and acceptance and how great they’ve been to my family. To have a son, Knox, playing on campus and every morning they practice, and then he just can walk over from practice onto campus is really special and how the community has been to us as family, and the state.”
He went on to give credit to the university’s new power structure with its president and athletic director. Kiffin said, “One of the things that has really stuck out to me has been the alignment at LSU from the top down, from President Rousse to Verge Ausberry, our athletic director, to our board of supervisors. That alignment has been great from the first time I met with them.”
Kiffin went on to say, “Then a lot of times people, you know, schools recruit just like coaches do. Is it that way when you get there? It’s been amazing. That alignment and commitment to building a championship program has been great.”
The new head coach of the Tigers also lauded the school’s commitment to recruiting, especially its new Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) agreement with Nike.
“Think about how different it is for kids in NIL opportunities to come to LSU,” Kiffin remarked. “You know, we have 12 football players that have NIL deals with Nike. No school in America has more than eight. So think about the difference of that as branding about come to LSU as a football player.
“Jordan Seton, our left tackle, has an NIL deal with Nike. There has never been an offensive lineman ever to have one in college with Nike. That’s one of the things when you talk about LSU being different and why it is a different place to come, and when you come and the association with LSU and the branding that goes with that nationally has really been amazing to see.
“That really goes into the blueprint of what we’re building and what I said seven months ago when I took the job. We’re coming to LSU to sign the best players in the country out of high school and then mix that with the best portal players in the country and put them together.”
The NIL deals combined with transfer portal acquisitions, according to Kiffin, has produced a roster that is ready to win now and years to come. “We’ve put together a roster that can win now, but as I look at when you build the program, where it really will go to another level is how you build your depth, and that you can’t necessarily build the first year, but then you can once you sign the high school players and back-to-back classes and portal players,” he expressed. “The future is really bright and really amazing at LSU of what’s to come.”
With the start of the season fast approaching, Kiffin is looking forward to the schedule ahead. “And the excitement of the schedule and to coach in Tiger Stadium and have the big opener against Clemson just really every day pushes us to be the best and really is exciting to get back there,” he shared.
The schedule features a game against former SEC West rival Mississippi State. The two teams played each other 117 times and have not played each other since 2023 when the Tigers beat the Bulldogs 41-14 in Starkville.
Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby said about the game in Tiger Stadium this year, “It will be a great environment like it always is there. Another incredible challenge as we go play -- I believe it’s an 11:00 a.m. kick there that Saturday morning. Again, for our guys to be able to go into these different venues and be able to, man, go compete at the highest level in some of the best venues in the world, man, it’s special.”
He went on to say, “Our guys are incredibly grateful and thankful for the opportunity, but that one, just like every other one, we’re going to be fighting our tail off to go win. It will, it will be a great Saturday morning.”