Lane Kiffin spoke to the media yesterday for the first time since being hired as LSU’s head football coach. One of the first things Kiffin did in Baton Rouge was to sign the two best high school players in the state, Lamar Brown and Richard Anderson. Kiffin says even though he gets a lot of credit for keeping Brown and Anderson in the boot, the program recruits itself.
“We don’t even have a D-line coach at the time, and they still sign with LSU. That’s not because of Lane Kiffin. That’s not because of Frank Wilson. That’s the power of a place, that they would decide to sign instead of waiting and have to see everything involved, because they both knew it was LSU,” Kiffin explained.
Kiffin brought in quarterbacks Sam Leavitt of Arizona State, Husan Longstreet of USC and Landen Clark of Elon to play for the Tigers. Kiffin says he’s most proud of the staff’s ability to build one of the best quarterback rooms in the country through the portal.
“Three guys that I think are really talented, different styles of players. And it says a lot about them to come to the same place. Nowadays, a lot of guys don’t want to do that. They want to go to where, ‘Okay, I’m guaranteed I’m going to start.’ So I think it says a lot about their competitiveness,” Kiffin said.
Kiffin gave an update on Leavitt’s foot injury, saying he will be able to throw in spring practice but will miss team drills.
Over the past couple of weeks, Kiffin and his staff traveled across the country to get a head start on recruiting the Class of 2027. Kiffin says his trips in Louisiana have stood out.
“They love football. And everybody says they love football. But the high school coaches here, and the people around the school, they love football, they love coaching football. They love coaching the kids, they genuinely care about the kids. So, that’s kind of gotten lost a little bit. And so, it’s awesome,” Kiffin said.