LSU has quickly become the center of national attention this season after its controversial hiring of the former Ole Miss head coach, Lane Kiffin. Amidst the noise and scrutiny, the governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, came to the rescue of Kiffin to defend the honour of their new head coach, while sharing his honest thoughts about the head coach’s departure from Oxford.
“Don’t hate the player, hate the game! We did what we had to,” Jeff Landry told reporter Jeff Duncan in an interview over a phone call.
Even though Landry publicly championed the hire, he surprisingly confessed deep regret over how it went down. After the sacking of Brian Kelly in late 2025, followed by a rather disappointing season at LSU, Kiffin took over at LSU immediately for the upcoming season.
Lane Kiffin was fresh off leading Ole Miss to an 11-1 record, including a historic win over Georgia, and securing a College Football Playoff berth. Because he left before the postseason even started, the 50-year-old faced massive national backlash. Jeff Landry openly admitted that snatching Lane Kiffin away right before Ole Miss’s historic playoff appearance felt wrong, even if it was a necessary evil for LSU.
“It certainly was not fun,” Landry said. “To have to go out there and poach a coach before he had an opportunity to coach a group of kids that he brought up there that I know absolutely loved him and loved the program over at Ole Miss and not allow him to finish the season out — those are the kind of guardrails we need (in college sports).”
Jeff Landry told me today he didn’t like the way the Lane Kiffin hire went down but defended LSU’s hiring, saying it was “the only way.”
Jeff Landry defends LSU’s controversial hiring of Lane Kiffin: ‘The only way was to do what we did’ https://t.co/kn9LskNGyj via @nolanews
— Jeff Duncan (@JeffDuncan_) April 9, 2026
“The only focus on college sports is a loyalty to the Benjamin Franklin on a hundred-dollar bill, rather than a loyalty to teammates, to the coaches and programs,” Landry said. “But I didn’t get to write those rules — I had to play by those particular rules. And the only way to get Lane Kiffin was to do what we did. I didn’t like it. I don’t think it was fair to his players. It wasn’t fair to him, but hell.”
Despite his mixed feelings about the messy hiring process, Landry is fully invested in the future. He praised LSU’s recent recruiting haul, fully trusting Kiffin to live up to his “portal king” reputation as spring practice continues.
“I know he’s in the middle of spring training, so I do not bother him. I want them all to go out there and do their jobs and get those kids in tiptop shape, so we can go win some championships,” said Landry.
Sky-High Expectations Surround Lane Kiffin
After the criticism, the next challenge for the LSU head coach is to change the face of LSU and to win them a championship. LSU’s SEC prediction states 8.5 wins. The head coach knows nothing builds overnight and is patient and confident for the upcoming journey.
“Things don’t happen overnight,” Kiffin said. “We’re making some first steps. There’s a ton of work,” Kiffin continued, “to get the program back up to where everybody around here wants it to be. A long jump to go to the level that I came here to get at.”
Following his old traditions, Kiffin cancelled the annual spring game for the Tigers. The Tigers are almost finished with their spring practice and look good.
“It’s much more about the day-to-day process and always trying to find a way to improve our players, coach better, and get them to the highest level. We don’t really talk with numbers that way because I think you get yourself stuck a little, especially in a system now that part of it is out of your control, whether you’re in the playoffs or not.”
In the end, Jeff Landry stood by LSU’s decision, but his words made one thing clear: that even he knew the move came at a cost. Now, with spring practice underway, all eyes are on Lane Kiffin and on whether he can turn that risky call into the kind of success LSU desperately wants. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
