LSU football's Lane Kiffin explains history behind his elite offense

LSU football landed its top head coaching target, poaching Lane Kiffin from SEC rival Ole Miss.

Kiffin was the hottest name on the 2025-26 college football coaching carousel. As Ole Miss made a strong offer to retain Kiffin, he was pursued by LSU and Florida. He was thought to be the top target of the Tigers and Gators' coaching searches.

Kiffin won 55 games in six years at Ole Miss and a key reason for that success was the offense. Kiffin is seen as one of the top offensive minds in the sport and while he was at Ole Miss, the Rebels led the nation in first downs per game and total yards per game.

Kiffin's introductory press conference was on Monday and he offered insight to the creation of his modern offense.

"We have the most unique offense in the country and because of learning from so many people along the way," Kiffin said.

Kiffin talked about hiring Kendall Briles at FAU, which allowed Kiffin to learn the Briles system of offense, made famous by Kendall's Dad, Art Briles.

Kiffin said he took the best elements from the Briles system and combined that with the best elements of his USC and Alabama offenses.

"What if we combine these two and take this up-tempo spread system but then really still do it with problem plays, problem formations?," Kiffin said.

Kiffin mentioned how growing up under three defensive coaches shaped the way he sees the game. His dad, Monte Kiffin, was one of football's most innovative defensive minds. The same could be said for Pete Carroll and Nick Saban, both of whom Kiffin worked under.

"I basically spent the majority of my life with those three defensive minds over time, always listening to them, what gave them problems as three of the best defensive minds to ever coach this game," Kiffin said.

LSU is counting on Kiffin to turn around an offense that took a major step back in 2025. LSU's offense was among the best in the SEC in 2023 and 2024, but the unit ranked near the bottom of the conference in 2025.

This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: LSU football's Lane Kiffin explains how he created his elite offense