Lane Kiffin asking for patience. With college football’s most expensive roster, good luck with that
He lit this fuse. Threw gasoline on a grease fire, and did his thing while it burned.
We can argue about the how and why of Lane Kiffin’s ugly departure from Ole Miss and heralded arrival at LSU, and if it was the right thing to do. But there’s no escaping the fallout.
There’s no patience for what LSU and Lane Kiffin have constructed.
“Things don’t happen overnight,” Kiffin said last week during the early stages of spring practice — and after getting his first look at the most expensive roster in college football.
After he left Ole Miss at the critical moment of a national championship run to take a better job.
After LSU paid former coach Brian Kelly $54 million to not coach.
After the governor of Louisiana got involved in Kiffin’s hire, and greased the tracks of a ridiculous process.
After Kiffin convinced the best young offensive coordinator in college football to follow him to Baton Rouge.
After LSU signed the most expensive transfer portal class ever, including a championship-level quarterback within that class.
After LSU spent, according to various reports, $40-50 million on this year’s roster.
And finally, and certainly unforgettably, after Kiffin has spent the entire offseason — from the day he left Ole Miss, really — doing what he does best on social media.
Taunting any and all, and living the life of kings.
There’s no patience after that, pal. Not for one of the best coaches in the game, and not for one who has never won a Power conference championship.
“There’s a lot of work to get a program to an elite performing level,” Kiffin said. “We’re making some first steps, but there’s a ton of work to do.”
To be fair, what’s Kiffin supposed to say? Should he step to the dais and declare LSU may not have the best roster in college football, but they’ve paid the most for it — and sonofagun, if these guys aren’t going to raise their level of play and bring home a national title to the Red Stick. For all of LSU!
It’s not realistic, none of it is. Not bringing together 60 new players (40 transfers) and building player-to-player and coach-to-player chemistry in a matter of months.
Not playing in a new offensive system with a new quarterback and wide receivers, and an offensive line. With seven new starters, and 17 of the 22 offensive players on the two-deep depth chart having not played a down for LSU.
Not playing with a rebuilt defense (three starters return) that was overworked last season, but still gave enough to keep LSU in games it had no business winning (or losing by one possession).
