By Sean Labar
Brian Kelly and Lane Kiffin have two very different personalities. When you really look at the two SEC coaches, they couldn’t seem more different in terms of their style, path to landing their current position and how they are perceived by media, fans and likely potential recruits.
Kiffin is loud, controversial and has an arrogance that’s both polarizing and complicated. His resume includes some massive failures and public lashings that led many to believe his head coaching career would have ended a long time ago, but his determination to change the narrative has paid off.
Kelly is an old-school, hard-nosed head coach at a program that has felt the recent success of the 2019 national championship and expectation to win now at LSU. It was a bold move for the former Notre Dame head coach to leave a job he likely could have kept for another decade. Despite being the head coach for one of the most iconic programs in the nation with a rich football tradition and 11 national championship appearances, the Irish hadn’t won a national title since the Lou Holtz-led team in 1988.
But then came decades of mediocrity with Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis never able to put together consistent winning seasons.
So, Kelly came in 2010 after leading Cincinnati to their first-ever Big East Championship in 2008 and ranking third in the BCS rankings in 2009 after a perfect (12-0) campaign.
By the time Kelly got to South Bend, the older generation had witnessed the Holtz era but the younger generation of fans just wanted a coach that put a competitive product that was good enough to compete for national championships.
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Kelly only had one losing season in his 10 years at Notre Dame, leading the Irish to two national championships during that span.
But money talks and no program in the country can compete with the bankroll the major SEC schools have at their disposal. So Kelly bet on himself, tripled his salary going from $2.67 million in 2021 to $9 million in 2022.
With the massive bonus comes massive expectations. And the expectations and situations are much different at Ole Miss with Kiffin than they are at LSU with Kelly.
The AP Poll currently has LSU ranked No. 16 with a (6-2) record and a massive game against Alabama up next that could make or break their season.
Ole Miss is also (6-2) and ranked three spots behind the Tigers at No. 19, with Arkansas on the schedule over the weekend.
But with the 2024 regular season dwindling and the new 12-team College Football Playoff inching closer, which SEC program has a better coach right now?
The Case For Lane Kiffin
Kiffin is one of the most interesting head coaches in college football right now. It feels like people either love him or hate him, but it’s hard not to admire his climb back to the top, leading a big-time SEC football program after crashing and burning a few times throughout his career, with public controversies and abrupt moves that still have entire fan bases hate him with a passion.
It truly felt like Kiffin’s days as a head college football coach were over when he was fired as the USC frontman in 2013. However, after getting hired by Nick Saban as Alabama’s OC in 2014, Kiffin emerged as one of the top assistants in college football as the architect behind the Crimson Tide’s potent offense. That led to him getting another shot at Florida Atlantic, where he led the team to unprecedented success, with the Owls finishing with two 10-win seasons in three years.
So in 2020, Ole Miss hired Lane Kiffin with a 4-year contract worth more than $16 million, and after leading the Rebels to a win in the Outback Bowl after his first year, he was already given a one-year extension.
Considering all of the competition on the recruiting trail in the SEC, Kiffin has worked wonders in four seasons, with Ole Miss landing a top-25 recruiting class every year he’s been head coach.
The remarkable thing? He’s not getting the high-profile 5-star players committing to Georgia, Alabama and even LSU. His bread and butter is finding the overlooked talent with potential he can mold, while adapting and using the transfer portal to turn the Rebels into a true contender in the SEC.
He’s taken a much different route to draw attention to his program than pretty much anyone in college football other than Deion Sanders. Kiffin is active on social media and stirs up hype around his program by throwing out a late-night controversial tweet, or a subtle jab at an opponent on his X account.
After landing QB Jaxson Dart in the transfer portal ahead of last season, Kiffin worked his offensive magic and led the Rebels to a (11-2) finish with the No. 16 offense in the country, putting up a whopping 461 yards per game.
Right now, Ole Miss is sitting with a pack of two-loss teams in the SEC hoping to make a late push into the College Football Playoff. The Rebels have an ugly loss to Kentucky on their resume and fell against LSU by just three points. Their path to making the 12-team playoff would mean winning out, which includes a home matchup against Georgia in two weeks. I think it’s possible, and if so, Kiffin should get a ton of praise for transforming Ole Miss into a legitimate contender so quickly.
The Case Against Lane Kiffin
It’s impossible to ignore Kiffin’s long list of mistakes as a head coach in college and the NFL.
While it seems like he’s learned from those and turned a new chapter in his career, some still believe he will initially bring back his old habits to Ole Miss, and either bail for a better job or let the program digress after tasting success.
After a failed stint as a 31-year-old NFL head coach with the Raiders after finding success as the OC at USC, Kiffin accepted the Tennessee job in 2009, taking over for Phillip Fulmer who produced just two losing seasons in 16 years as the Vols’ head coach.
But ultimately, he gave the Vols’ fans hope for the future leading them to a 7-6 record, but then burned a bridge with the entire fan base that still exists today — when he abruptly resigned after his first year to take the USC job. Mobs of fans were outraged, lighting fires outside of Neyland Stadium, protesting Kiffin’s move, which was perceived as selfish by just about everyone.
Kiffin’s success at Ole Miss puts his name in the list when any major opening comes available, with the most recent instance being Alabama before the Tide hired Kalen DeBoer. For the right job, would he bail in a heartbeat like he did at Tennessee?
There’s a level of unpredictability that feels like it comes with Lane Kiffin.
Ultimately, his move to USC never worked out. After putting together a few winning seasons, the program took a sharp turn in the wrong direction, with a bad ending to the 2012 year that carried into 2013, At the end of September of 2013 the fan base had turned on him, and he was fired after a (4-7) record in his final 11 games leading USC.
He found early success after taking the Trojans’ job, putting together a few impressive winning seasons but USC wasn’t eligible for postseason competition in 2010 and 2012 — and despite finishing 2013 with a winning record — USC lost several key games at the end of that season and appeared to be trending in the wrong direction. Finally, after a rough start to the 2013 year, he was fired.
The Ole Miss brass wants to win, but there isn’t the pressure from other programs like Alabama, Georgia, and LSU that have had a ton of success recently. Still, Kiffin has never proven he can build a national championship contender. He’s close, but it will take a major late-season push to pull it off in 2024.
The Case For Brian Kelly
Kelly has an impressive overall record after three seasons at LSU, with a 26-9 record as the final quarter of the 2024 college football season is upon us.
The former Notre Dame head coach found instant success in his first season leading the Tigers, finishing 2022 with a (10-2) record and a trip to the SEC Championship game, The Tigers went on to close out the season with a win in the Citrus Bowl.
Kelly repeated the same success in 2023, leading the Tigers to another 10-win season with Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels leading one of the most explosive offenses in the country. He had signature wins in 2022 over Alabama and Ole Miss, who were both ranked in the top 10 at the time.
While at Notre Dame, Brian Kelly proved he could build a team capable of competing for national championships. He took the Irish to the BCS Championship game in 2012 and led Notre Dame to the 4-team College Football Playoff in 2018. He only had one losing record in 10 seasons at Notre Dame and when he decided to leave for LSU, had just finished an 11-2 season after finishing 12-1 the year before.
Despite not having ever worked in the SEC before taking the LSU job, Kelly has made his mark on the recruiting trail, getting better classes each year he’s been the Tigers’ head coach. LSU currently has the No. 4 recruiting class for 2025.
The impressive class includes the top-ranked player in the entire country, QB Bryce Underwood, who has the No. 1 national ranking for all players in the 2025. Kelly has also secured a commitment from RB Harlem Berry, who is ranked as the top RB of the 2025 class. Beyond the three 5-star players, the class has 20 4-star commits, tied with Ohio State as the leaders with 4-stars for 2025.
LSU has a critical matchup against Alabama this weekend, with the loser likely missing out on the College Football Playoff. If Kelly can lead the Tigers to a win over the Tide, win out and make the 12-team pool, he will take the program to the next step of getting closer to a national championship.
The Case Against Brian Kelly
While Kelly has had a ton of regular season success at both Notre Dame and LSU, he has yet to lead a team to a national championship win and until he proves he can do it, there will be questions if he’s the right coach at LSU.
LSU expects to compete for national titles every year and aspires to return to the top of the SEC where the recent success has been dominated by Georgia and Alabama.
With Nick Saban retiring, Kelly’s path to getting the Tigers back to regular conference championship games and making the College Football Playoff on a consistent basis looks more possible than ever.
While Kalen DeBoer has done a good job at Alabama taking over for one of the best college football coaches of all time, the Crimson Tide don’t feel like the juggernaut they were for so long — and this weekend — Kelly has an opportunity to get a statement win and remain in contention for the playoff.
But while it sounds crazy, if LSU falls to the Tide and gets a third loss, the Tigers will almost certainly miss the playoff and it isn’t unrealistic to believe the fan base will start to get impatient.
LSU won’t fire Brian Kelly after this season if the Tigers don’t make the CFP, but if he can’ get them in the 12-team dance next season with that incredible recruiting class? He likely wouldn’t survive following 2025.
LSU isn’t a program that is content with 10-win seasons that don’t result with a chance to win a national title. The pressure is on Kelly, while Kiffin getting Ole Miss into the playoff this year would be viewed as a massive accomplishment.
So is Brian Kelly at LSU better than Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss right now? Considering the Tigers just handed the Rebels their second loss in an overtime thriller on Oct. 12, it’s factual to say that LSU is better than Ole Miss at the current moment.
But if Kiffin can get the Rebels into the College Football Playoff before Kelly — whether it’s this season or next — it will be viewed as a massive failure for the LSU head coach, while Kiffin will be viewed as the savior for Ole Miss.
