Is Lane Kiffin Overhyped? | Don’t @ Me w/ Dan Dakich
“Look Kiffin hasn’t won anything and this is what is going to follow him. For all the bluster, for all the moving, for all the being fired, all the embarrassment, somehow, he’s like, he’s the John Gotti of coaching.”
LSU hosted McNeese in Week 5 in what was the Tigers’ final out-of-conference game before beginning a seven-game gauntlet in the SEC. With the result never in doubt from the opening whistle, one may have assumed Lane Kiffin would have wanted to see his team get off the field as quickly as possible, but when given the option, the head coach opted to decline.
LSU led the Cowboys 35-0 at halftime, and according to Kiffin, officials approached him and asked whether he wanted to run the clock in the second half. It’s not necessarily common, but in the circumstance of a blowout, quarters can be shortened via an always-running clock.
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Addressing the situation after the Tigers secured their 63-14 win, Kiffin explained that shortening a game isn’t a part of the standard within his program.
Lane Kiffin head coach of the LSU Tigers throws a pass during warm ups before a game against the McNeese State Cowboys at Tiger Stadium on October 3, 2026 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Derick Hingle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) (Derick Hingle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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“We talked in the locker room and then came out, and there was a conversation where [officials] asked me about, do you want to run the clock in the third and fourth quarter? And said no, I don’t believe in that,” Kiffin explained. “You play the game, we decide when the game’s over by the way that we play. And how physical that we play.
“So I told the guys, I told them that we don’t do that, and challenged them to come out and play really well. And set a tempo of how you play and a standard regardless whether you’re first, second or third team of how you play at LSU.”
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LSU Head Football Coach Lane Kiffin walks the field during warmups prior to NCAA football game action between the Clemson Tigers and the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, LA. Jonathan Mailhes/CSM/Sipa USA (Credit Image: © Jonathan Mailhes/Cal Sport Media/Sipa USA) (Jonathan Mailhes/Cal Sport Media/Sipa USA)
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Kiffin’s bunch has been bitten by the injury bug in recent weeks, so getting done with the blowout win as fast as possible may have been a benefit, but on the other hand, the Tigers were able to play a lot of players well down the depth chart.
Starting quarterback Sam Leavitt threw for three touchdowns in the game, but backup quarterbacks Landen Clark and Husan Longstreet threw a combined 25 passes in the game as well. Eight different players managed at least one rushing attempt in the game, and 10 players hauled in at least one reception.
Princewill Umanmielen and head coach Lane Kiffin talk during halftime against the Clemson Tigers at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La., on Sept. 5, 2026. (University Images via Getty Images)
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LSU and McNeese each scored 14 points in the third quarter before the Tigers blanked the Cowboys 14-0 in the final frame.
The Tigers travel to Lexington, Kentucky, in Week 6 to take on a Kentucky team that should have plenty of confidence after pulling off a comeback win on the road against South Carolina a week ago.