College Football Playoff or Bust: Lane Kiffin Responds to Narrative on LSU Football

Lane Kiffin and the LSU Tigers put a bow on Spring Camp this past weekend after a pivotal five-week stretch in Baton Rouge as the roster continues gaining familiarity with a new system.

Once Kiffin arrived in The Boot, there was a primary focus on attacking the NCAA Transfer Portal where the LSU Tigers coaching staff knocked it out of the park - ultimately signing over 40 newcomers.

Of the 40-plus signees, Kiffin and Co. inked nine Top-100 transfers to the haul in what quickly emerged as an all-time great signing class in the free agent market.

"I think talent-wise, probably is. A lot of that too is also the numbers," Kiffin said when asked if it was the best portal class ever. "The volume helps when I make that statement. I think, over time, in general, volume's gone up because as the system evolved.

"It's really created a system that makes players go in and like I said in the beginning, when it was first created, at least now there's only one window. You basically had created a system that was two times a year as a player, so I don't blame them."

But Kiffin has been quick to pump the brakes on expectations despite the national narrative surrounding the program is National Championship or bust.

LSU Tigers Football: Winnie Watkins. — Courtesy of Winnie Watkins via X.

Across Spring Camp in Baton Rouge, Kiffin has routinely stated the challenges that come with assembling a new-look roster in a short time period - doubling down on his take this week.

Lane Kiffin's Take: Expectations Rising

"A lot goes into making the right team, but then once they're there, also breaks too," Kiffin said. "Injuries, breaks in games, scheduling is a major part. So much is about wins and losses, which I understand, and this team won this many games. Within that roster is how do they play together? What breaks do they get? How well does the quarterback play?

"You've got to do a lot of work within that and get the right guys and they've got to mesh together. And like I said, scheduling is so much more important than people think. Who you play, what time do you play, does their quarterback happen to be out that week? I know it's been a topic of discussion why they need to figure out how to change the value of schedule and how much that means," Kiffin added.

"It was really good to have the spring but I still feel like we need fall camp and summer so much to get things to where we need them to be.

"Wins and losses are never ranked by payroll."

More LSU News:

LSU Football True Freshman Defensive Weapon Drawing Immediate Praise From Lane Kiffin

Jay Johnson, LSU Baseball Suffers Brutal Loss in Jake Brown's Season-Ending Injury

LSU Football Beats Out Ohio State Buckeyes, Texas A&M Aggies for No. 5 ATH in America

Join the Community:

Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and LSU Tigers On SI: @LSUTigersSI for all coverage surrounding the LSU Tigers.

Add us as a preferred source on Google