LSU football is not exactly being subtle about its crush on Lane Kiffin. According to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, LSU executives and Kiffin’s representatives held a call after the Tigers’ 17-13 loss at Oklahoma on Saturday to keep hammering out details of a deal, including travel. The university is sending two planes to Oxford on Sunday for Kiffin, his family, and others, a pretty loud signal about where this coaching search is headed.
On the field, the LSU Tigers did not exactly make a final sales pitch with style points. LSU managed just 198 total yards against the Oklahoma Sooners and went 2 of 14 on third down, wasting a strong defensive effort in Norman. Freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren Jr. threw for 96 yards and rushed for 33 as LSU finished the regular season 7-5 and 3-5 in SEC play. Oklahoma outgained the Tigers 393-198 behind 318 passing yards and two touchdowns from John Mateer via the ESPN Box Score.
Lane Kiffin, meanwhile, just closed out an 11-1 regular season with the Ole Miss Rebels. Ole Miss hammered the Mississippi State Bulldogs 38-19 in the Egg Bowl behind 318 passing yards and four touchdowns from quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and 143 rushing yards from running back Kewan Lacy. The Rebels rolled up 545 yards, didn’t turn the ball over, and stayed firmly in the College Football Playoff hunt.
That résumé is exactly why LSU has chased Kiffin this hard. Multiple reports have described LSU’s offer as a massive deal in the seven-year, $90–100 million range, one that would put Kiffin among the highest-paid coaches in the sport. School officials reportedly feel “very confident” he will ultimately accept.
Nothing is official yet, and Kiffin still has to decide how he wants to handle a potential move with Ole Miss staring at a postseason run. But when a school sends not one, but two planes into your town, it usually means the courtship is entering the final stage.
