Lane Kiffin is no stranger to having to move due to coaching changes, as his dad Monte Kiffin had to move 10 times when Lane was a kid before he would go to college in 1994.
“I really tried to channel my dad,” Kiffin said about making his decision to leave Ole Miss during his introductory press conference.
With Kiffin taking the job at LSU, he has moved on to his sixth head coaching job in his career.
He’s seeing this play out in his own family as he makes the decision to move colleges.
“I never understood why as a kid we moved so much… and it became apparent to me that that happened for a reason,” Kiffin said. “He went to all those places so he could connect with all those people, impact all those people, be impacted by all those people at the different places. And so as I thought about that, even with the best six years (at Ole Miss), it became apparent to me what the decision was.”
Kiffin has been open about how he misses his dad and wishes he could have his guidance as he made this decision, but he said he has mentors he talked to.
Kiffin said he talked to legendary USC coach Pete Carroll and Alabama coach Nick Saban.
“Pete Carroll told me that he always told my dad that he looked out for me,” Kiffin said. “(Carroll) said, ‘This is exactly what he would do. He would tell you, boy go get it.'”
Kiffin went and got it, and by Monday, LSU had introduced him as their head coach, with his whole family in attendance.
“I have to make this decision, but I have none of this information about what the neighborhoods are like, what the people are like, what the schools are like,” Kiffin said. “I don’t know that I could have made the decision and felt good without everybody on board.”
Kiffin’s family took a tour of Baton Rouge on Nov. 17, getting to see schools and properties and getting a feel for if they would fit here.
And after the trip to Baton Rouge, Kiffin said it felt right for them.
“It was after going to multiple places and coming back and saying, ‘Hey, we’re all in. We’re all in to go to Baton Rouge and go to LSU,’” Kiffin said.
Kiffin acknowledged that the decision has been tough personally, with all of the mixed feedback he’s getting on his decision.
“As a football coach, it’s awesome in so many ways, but it’s very challenging when you make decisions,” he said.
Kiffin said he felt and heard the things fans said about him as he left Ole Miss, but he expects that and understands it’s because he’s done a good job.
Kiffin opens a new chapter in Baton Rouge, this time with a thought that maybe he can figure it all out here. By that he means settling down, pointing to Carroll and Saban as coaches who figured it all out around his age.
“Where I am is when they really figured it all out,” Kiffin said.
