LSU Football’s Recent Recruiting Success is Exactly Why Lane Kiffin Left Ole Miss

When Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU, many college football fans wondered whether he had made the right choice. Of course, in that moment, there wasn't much that would affirm that.

Everyone knew the real tests would come over the summer and fall with recruiting and his first season as head coach.

While fall is still weeks away, recruiting has heated up recently. And Kiffin has already exceeded expectations in just over six months.

A Wild Streak

LSU Tigers Football: KJ Green. — Courtesy of KJ Green on X.

Over the weekend, five-star edge KJ Green and three-star running back Brennen Lacey committed on Sunday, with three-star cornerback Markez Davis and 4-star wide receiver Cade Cooper committing to the Tigers back-to-back on Monday.

That was four commitments, all within 24 hours of each other.

It's headlined by Green, a five-star and top-10 player in 247 Sports' 2027 rankings.

For LSU, that's a massive addition. But for Kiffin, it's even bigger. And with each passing commitment, seeing high-profile recruits commit to LSU gets more normal.

Kiffin showed up to LSU with the No. 1 player in America sitting in his office. That doesn't happen in many other places.

Now, as time keeps passing, LSU is hosting multiple five-stars every weekend, trending to flip players from top schools and aiming to land the No. 1 player in the class, again.

The recruiting scene in Baton Rouge is lively during June, and Kiffin is a big reason for the major push this month.

At the Top of the Mountain

Dec 1, 2025; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU new head coach Lane Kiffin speaks at South Stadium Club at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Kiffin knew that when he took the LSU job, he was taking one of the best jobs in the country. The resources LSU gives to its coaches to assemble the best rosters set it apart as one of the elite programs in the country.

LSU's recent pull on Louisiana recruits and top recruits nationally has transcended every era and head coach that has stepped foot on campus in Baton Rouge. But it's been different under Kiffin. It's been quicker.

He hasn't coached a single regular-season snap, hasn't come down Victory Hill with his team and hasn't stood on the western sideline of Tiger Stadium with 102,000 fans screaming for him.

But despite that, he has the pull of a storied coach, one who has claimed win after win in years of wearing his team's colors. But Kiffin's ability to make connections and lasting impressions on recruits expedited the draw to his program in Baton Rouge.

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