ESPN Ranks Best Coaching Hires of 2025 Cycle: LSU Football, Virginia Tech Lead Way

In a move that sent shockwaves across the college football landscape, Lane Kiffin made the decision to depart the Ole Miss Rebels amid a College Football Playoff run for the LSU Tigers head coaching job.

Kiffin, one of the savviest shot-callers in America, departed Oxford after six seasons after building the Ole Miss program into a premier destination across his time in the Magnolia State.

But it was time for a new challenge with Kiffin sitting back, evaluating the decision, and ultimately knowing he made the right call once seeing Tiger Stadium upon arriving in Baton Rouge.

“Even on the plane down here, I’m kind of like, man we made this decision, but gah,” Kiffin said on Dec. 1, expressing the angst with his hands. “I’m telling you. We landed..,and when I got off the plane here, and I saw the leadership, and I felt the power of this place. And then you get in the car and you go by Tiger Stadium, and it’s lit up.

“I absolutely made the right decision. And it all went away.”

LSU Tigers Football. — Dec 1, 2025; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU president Wade Rousse, left, LSU new head coach Lane Kiffin and LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry stand together at South Stadium Club at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Now, with the decision in the rearview mirror, ESPN's Bill Connelly has labeled the LSU Tigers' coaching hire as the best in this year's cycle. Why? Who came in at No. 2 on the list?

ESPN Ranks Coaching Carousel Moves: 2025 Edition

No. 1: Lane Kiffin - LSU Tigers

"We won't overthink this one. Everything about the run-up to Kiffin's departure from Ole Miss was dramatic and strung out, and it will forever be part of his coaching biography that he left an active playoff team for a school he had beaten weeks earlier," ESPN wrote.

"But in his past nine years as a head coach, he has won double-digit games six times (at schools without much, or any, recent history of doing that), and he engineered the Rebels' best three-year run in 60-plus years.

"He checks almost every box for a school that can afford to hire a guy who checks lots of boxes."

No. 2: James Franklin - Virginia Tech Hokies

"Last summer, I used stats to look at which coaches have done the best job of overachieving against their school's recent history," ESPN wrote. "Granted, Franklin's average will go down once I've added this year's Penn State team to the mix, but heading into 2025 he was No. 8 among all long-term coaches of the past 20 years.

Vanderbilt had averaged 3.1 wins per season over a 35-year period, and he won 24 games in three seasons there. Penn State had enjoyed four top-10 finishes in 19 years and was still dealing with sanctions when he arrived in 2014, and he oversaw five top-10 finishes in a nine-year run.

"No matter how the run at PSU ended, for Tech to land someone with that type of résumé was an absolute coup."

Now, all eyes are on the new era of college football with Kiffin and James Franklin both set to begin new chapters in their coaching careers at new spots.

More LSU News:

LSU Football Wide Receiver, Oklahoma Transfer Labeled 'Biggest Bust' in Portal

Lane Kiffin Pulls Off Historic Recruiting Feat Amid First Month With LSU Football

Lane Kiffin Reveals How Nick Saban, Pete Carroll Influenced Decision to LSU Football

Join the Community:

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