Lane Kiffin landing at LSU could spark reunion with national championship coach

LSU could be poised to make the biggest splash in the college football coaching carousel as it tries get Lane Kiffin on its sideline next season, but the school could also be reunited with the man who won its most recent national championship at the same time.

LSU would be open to the idea of bringing on former head coach Ed Orgeron to work on a prospective staff led by Kiffin, according to a bombshell report from CBS Sports.

When we last saw Coach O

Orgeron was the head coach at LSU back in 2019 when the school went undefeated and won the national title behind a record-setting offense led by quarterback Joe Burrow.

Coach O was dismissed from the program after the 2021 season following two .500 campaigns with a 50-21 overall record, and has not been in coaching since then.

But he hasn’t been shy about expressing a desire to return to anyone who would listen, especially to Baton Rouge, and LSU would be an ideal fit as a former player and coach.

“I love LSU,” he said in October to ESPN. “I love the Tigers. And I’m getting back to coaching. For sure I’d consider it. No doubt.”

He added: “I’d love to. Are you kidding me? I’m one phone call away. I’ve just got to get in my truck. I’ll be there today.”

Coach O and Kiffin have a history

Kiffin and Orgeron have a long-term relationship dating back almost a generation.

Both were assistants at USC during the height of the Pete Carroll era, and Kiffin hired Oregon as an assistant at Tennessee in 2009.

The two returned to USC together the next year when Kiffin became the head coach of the Trojans program, and Orgeron succeeded Kiffin as interim in 2013 after the latter was famously relieved of his duties on that tarmac.

The latest on Kiffin

Lane Kiffin remains the most high-profile name in what has become a very active and expensive coaching rumor mill this season.

LSU and Florida have emerged as the favorites to acquire the coach, and reports have suggested that his family have been hosted on tours of Baton Rouge and Gainesville in recent days.

LSU is also prepared to offer Kiffin a package that could make him the highest-paid head coach in college football, according to multiple reports.

It's getting tense in Oxford

Ole Miss, his current employer, has reportedly given Kiffin a very sharp deadline: tell them what his future plans are before playing the Egg Bowl on Nov. 28, or else.

If he doesn’t, there’s a very real chance that they wouldn’t even let him coach the team during the College Football Playoff.

Kiffin has denied such an ultimatum exists, but there clearly remains a very tense situation between himself and the school he has brought into the national title picture, but now appears on the verge of leaving.

Kiffin remains the betting favorite to become the next head coach at LSU with 61 percent odds, a figure that has doubled in just the last day, according to the prediction market Kalshi.

(CBS)

All odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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