The Biggest Risk Lane Kiffin Took Since Arriving at LSU

It's one that literally needs to pay off

Lane Kiffin speaks at SEC Media Days | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Lane Kiffin has brought an immense amount of excitement to LSU.

Most of that excitement is with the elite roster that he has built in his first year as head coach of the Tigers. He has added elite transfers like quarterback Sam Leavitt, left tackle Jordan Seaton and safety Ty Benefield, while also keeping high-level talent like tight end Trey'Dez Green.

Overall, the roster that will first take the field on Sept. 5 against Clemson has cost Kiffin and the Tigers about $40 million. It has to pay off.

The money game

Lane Kiffin talks with Mansoor Delane during a 2025 game | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With so much money being invested into this roster, it may seem like boom or bust in 2026. And while at least competing for a spot in the College Football Playoff by the final weeks of the season is expected, the world won't end if LSU doesn't make it in this year.

Kiffin is gambling his money on a roster to be sustained year over year, not just a large-scale turnover each year. Leavitt, Seaton and Benefield are surely league bound after 2026, but Kiffin has a plan for most transfers to stick around for another year.

“The portal is thought so much about like every portal player is a senior or a one-year player,” Kiffin said at SEC Media Days. ”That’s not the case.

"A lot of times you sign a portal player, they may have two, three years of eligibility left. So, then you have them in your program. Now you go into year two, you’ve coached them already.”

Kiffin's risk is in the money but also the development with the portal players. One transfer name that sticks out as someone who can last in the program for multiple years is redshirt sophomore running back Dilin Jones.

Jones has been a standout in the offseason, and will be one of the most-watched players in fall camp. While he will be draft eligible after this year, it's highly unlikely he will opt to head to the league after just one year with LSU. He and sophomore Harlem Berry can return next year for even higher production.

Kiffin trusting him and his staff's ability to develop elite talent has proven to be a good move, as he brought Ole Miss to its best seasons in program history as head coach, though he only had the role for six years.

He has a knack for finding talent, and his risk of putting so much money into a roster to compete this year as well as turn over to future years is one that has a good shot of working out.