Paul Finebaum Reveals What Could Derail Major SEC Head Coach's First Season

ESPN announcer Paul Finebaum before the 2024 SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The pressure surrounding the LSU Tigers and new head coach Lane Kiffin was always going to be enormous.

That is what comes with taking over one of the premier programs in college football, especially after replacing a coach who still won 34 games in four seasons. LSU did not move on from Brian Kelly because the Tigers were bad. They made the move because “good” was no longer enough.

The expectation in Baton Rouge is championships. That expectation is exactly why the first month of Kiffin’s tenure could define the entire season.

LSU new head coach Lane Kiffin. | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

On "The Paul Finebaum Show," the SEC Network analyst explained why LSU’s early schedule could quickly become a massive problem.

"Their September schedule is very tricky," Finebaum said. "I think it's as hard as anybody's. If Lane Kiffin has three losses or two losses by the end of September, then what happens to this Lane Kiffin train? It completely derails."

Finebaum is not exaggerating.

LSU opens the season against the Clemson Tigers, a perennial national contender with playoff expectations of its own. After a brief break against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, Kiffin immediately returns to Oxford for what could become one of the most emotional games of the entire season against the Ole Miss Rebels. Then comes the Texas A&M Aggies.

That is a brutal opening month for any coach, let alone one stepping into a new environment with championship expectations already attached to him. And the reality is the SEC no longer allows slow starts.

Last season proved that more than ever. Teams fighting for playoff positioning simply cannot afford multiple early losses, especially with the conference becoming deeper and more competitive across the board. LSU’s margin for error is already razor-thin because of what waits later in the season.

The Tigers still have to navigate matchups against the Alabama Crimson Tide, Texas Longhorns, and Tennessee Volunteers. That is why September matters so much.

If Kiffin starts 3-1 or even 4-0, LSU immediately becomes a legitimate national championship contender. The hype around the hire only grows louder because Kiffin’s offensive system and portal-heavy roster-building approach are viewed as perfect fits for modern college football. But if the Tigers stumble to 1-3 or even 2-2, the conversation changes instantly.

Instead of discussing playoff positioning, the focus becomes whether LSU once again overestimated how quickly a coaching change could elevate the program. In today’s SEC, perception changes fast, and few coaches understand that pressure better than Kiffin.