Ole Miss Football's Lane Kiffin Talks Brian Kelly, Move From Notre Dame to LSU

Ole Miss football has been receiving plenty of buzz this offseason, mostly revolving around recruiting and the transfer portal.

But the Rebels found themselves back in the news this past Tuesday, but not for the reasons you might think.

Comedian Theo Von traveled to Oxford to perform a stand-up routine in the SJB Pavilion this past Thursday, and sat down with Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin for an interview on Von's This Past Weekend Podcast.

The unlikely duo talked about a myriad of topics, but primarily focused on the current state of the SEC, and Kiffin's journey to Oxford.

But Von couldn't help but give rival head coach Brian Kelly a light-hearted jab, by teasing the LSU head coach about a viral recruiting video from January 2022, with Kiffin joining in, mentioning that he had reposted the video.

“I retweeted that when he did that thing,” Kiffin said. “He was with a quarterback. It was terrible. … I think I wrote something like, did you put this out on purpose?

"You know they’re going to film you when you do this? And it’s not like his first one. He did it the year before. I’m like, you realize you’re kind of grinding on the dude?”

The video saw Kelly dancing with a recruit on what appears to be a Lazy Susan, which drew wide-spread mockery and parody of Kelly.

But the LSU head coach got the last laugh, as the seemingly bizarre strategy worked.

Lane Kiffin on Brian Kelly's viral recruiting dance:

"Did you actually know they were filming you... Do you realize you are kinda grinding on the dude?" 💀

(via @TheoVon) pic.twitter.com/mAysUhJaFd
— On3 (@On3sports) April 16, 2025

LSU brought in the No. 12 recruiting class in 2022, the year of the viral video, the No. 5 recruiting class in 2023, the No. 7 recruiting class in 2024, and currently hold the No. 9 class for 2025.

While many felt Kelly's video was strange, it undoubtedly worked, and helped to bring attention to the program, which was in the midst of a coaching change.

Before taking the LSU job, Kelly served as the head coach at Notre Dame from 2010 to 2021.

While in South Bend, Kelly led the Fighting Irish to 92-39 record during his time there, including a National Championship appearance in 2012, and two College Football Playoff appearances in 2018 and 2020.

Kelly left for Baton Rouge at the end of the 2021 season, and found himself in a very different place.

"You're at Notre Dame, and then you're at LSU" Lane Kiffin said during his interview with Theo Von. "That's about as big a change as you can get, going from South Bend to Baton Rouge."

The move from a mid-sized private Jesuit school in Northern Indiana to a large SEC school in Southern Louisiana would present a major culture shock to anyone, but especially Brian Kelly, who had coached in the Midwest his entire career up to that point.

“I like Brian,” Kiffin said. “Not a South guy. Kind of came in. I think maybe people don’t really understand him. He’s a little bit different than maybe your traditional Kirby Smart, he’s like, born and raised SEC.”

Kelly has seemingly adjusted well, as on top of his sucsess on the recruting trail, the Tigers have gone 29-11 with 3-straight bowl victories.

Despite the strange video, things have worked out well for LSU in the long run. proving Kelly's bold strategy a success.

More Ole Miss News:

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Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and Ole Miss Rebels On SI: @OleMissOnSI for all coverage surrounding the Ole Miss program.