Lane Kiffin has been the youngest head coach in modern NFL history, the coach who left Tennessee after one season, the coach USC fired on an airport tarmac, Nick Saban’s offensive coordinator, the man who rebuilt his career at Florida Atlantic, and the coach who turned Ole Miss into an 11 win program. On September 5, 2026, he coaches his first game at LSU, against Clemson, on the richest contract of his life.
| Born | May 9, 1975, Lincoln, Nebraska (age 51) |
| Father | Monte Kiffin, the longtime NFL defensive coordinator who built the Tampa 2 defense |
| Playing career | Quarterback, Fresno State, 1994 to 1996 |
| College head coaching record | 116 and 53 over 14 seasons entering 2026; 4 and 4 in bowl games |
| NFL head coaching record | 5 and 15, Oakland Raiders, 2007 to 2008 |
| Current contract | Seven years, $91 million at LSU, signed November 30, 2025. Details on Lane Kiffin salary and contract |
Every Stop, in Order
| Years | Team | Role | Record / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 to 1998 | Fresno State | Assistant | First job, at his alma mater |
| 1999 | Colorado State | Graduate assistant | |
| 2000 | Jacksonville Jaguars | Defensive quality control | His only NFL job before Oakland |
| 2001 to 2006 | USC | TE, WR, then offensive coordinator | Part of Pete Carroll’s staff during two national titles and three Heisman winners |
| 2007 to 2008 | Oakland Raiders | Head coach | 5 and 15. Hired by Al Davis at 31, the youngest head coach in the modern NFL, and fired four games into year two |
| 2009 | Tennessee | Head coach | 7 and 6. Left for USC after one season; fans rioted in Knoxville the night he left |
| 2010 to 2013 | USC | Head coach | 28 and 15 under NCAA sanctions; fired at LAX after a loss at Arizona State in September 2013 |
| 2014 to 2016 | Alabama | Offensive coordinator | Three SEC titles, the 2015 national title, and the rehabilitation of his reputation under Nick Saban |
| 2017 to 2019 | Florida Atlantic | Head coach | 27 and 13, two Conference USA titles |
| 2020 to 2025 | Ole Miss | Head coach | 55 and 19, five straight bowls, three straight 10 win seasons, the first 11 win regular season in school history and the program’s first College Football Playoff berth in 2025 |
| 2026 | LSU | Head coach | Hired November 30, 2025 to replace Brian Kelly; first game September 5 vs. Clemson |
The Arc
Kiffin’s career reads like three different careers. The first, from the Raiders through USC, was a coach promoted too fast who kept leaving or being pushed out: 20 games in Oakland, 13 at Tennessee, a tarmac firing in Los Angeles. The second was three years as Saban’s coordinator, where he called the offense for the Blake Sims, Jake Coker and Jalen Hurts teams and learned, by his own account, how a program is actually run. The third began at FAU and turned into the most productive stretch of any Ole Miss coach in the modern era: the Rebels had never won 10 games in a regular season before him and did it three years running.
What has not changed across all three is the offense. Kiffin’s teams play fast, throw to the perimeter, and run the quarterback, and they have produced a first round NFL quarterback (Jaxson Dart, 2025) and some of the highest scoring offenses in the SEC over the past six seasons. His exit from Ole Miss, on the eve of the program’s first playoff, was the most criticized move of his career, and it is the backdrop to everything he does in Baton Rouge this fall.
Family
Kiffin is the son of Monte Kiffin, who died in July 2024 and coached alongside Lane at Tennessee, USC and FAU. His brother Chris Kiffin is a longtime defensive assistant. He has three children with his former wife Layla; his daughter Landry attended Ole Miss.
The Bottom Line
Lane Kiffin arrives at LSU with a 116 and 53 college record, a résumé that includes both the youngest NFL head coaching hire of the modern era and a public firing at an airport, and six years at Ole Miss that made him the most sought after coach in the sport. His contract is on Lane Kiffin salary and contract; his first roster is on LSU NIL; his first game is Clemson vs. LSU.