Multiple key members of former Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin’s staff are following their head coach to Baton Rouge.
Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr and multiple other position coaches have officially signed with LSU over the past few days, and now take up a majority of LSU’s offensive staff. It’s likely these ex-Ole Miss coaches will try to make splashes in the portal to bring some of their old playmakers to LSU.
Who could be some big names coming to play under Kiffin and LSU?
First, it’s very possible Kiffin will look for a new quarterback suitable for his complex offense. The first two names people are throwing out to be the guy are Kiffin’s past two Ole Miss quarterbacks, Trinidad Chambliss and Austin Simmons.
Chambliss and Kiffin seem to have a close enough connection that the ex-head coach could draw the breakout star away from his playoff team for the starting job with the Tigers next year in return. As of now, though, there’s no further indication of Chambliss considering transferring.
He is also still in a fight with the NCAA to grant him an extra year of eligibility for next season, after he claimed he should have received a redshirt year for one of his four years at Ferris State, as he played only two games that season.
Chambliss said confirmation should be coming soon, but it’s still unclear what he will do with that last year of eligibility. If he does decide to enter the transfer portal for his last year, Kiffin would likely go all in for him. Still, though, all of this is very far from being a reality.
Another realistic option is Simmons, who many have speculated will enter the transfer portal.
Simmons and Kiffin have always seemed to have a close relationship, and if Chambliss never broke out while Simmons was injured earlier this season, Simmons could likely still be the starting quarterback of Ole Miss. He already knows Kiffin and his offense, and if he does commit to transferring, there don’t seem to be many other players on this team more suitable than him.
The other name that has recently been thrown around is Kewan Lacy. Lacy played a major role in this year’s Ole Miss offense under Kelly, totalling an insane 1279 yards and 20 touchdowns. He has always made his mark in Kiffin’s pass game, racking up 25 receptions this season.
Lacy transferred last year to play for Kiffin after not receiving much playing time at Missouri the year before. Lacy may likely do the same thing this year and be lured to LSU by Kiffin to fix LSU’s hideous run game.
Kiffin has already landed some big recruiting wins. In his first few days in office, he’s already flipped four-star tight end JC Anderson from Ole Miss.
The 6-foot-7-inch red zone threat was a praised commit by Ole Miss, who quickly would leave with Kiffin’s departure. Anderson will look to create a great duo with the other 6-foot-7-inch tight end, Trey’dez Green, if the two get to play together.
He also flipped three-star top 100 offensive linemen, Ryan Miret, from Ole Miss. Miret will add depth to this struggling LSU offensive line next year and shows early interest from Kiffin in making moves to bring in guys for the offensive line, which needs a lot of work.
LSU’s roster will surely be filled with new faces on next year’s team. Kiffin will bring in players suited for his pass-heavy offense and make big moves in this upcoming transfer portal.
There’s definitely more to come with the constant coaching hires and player commitments this week, so hopefully, there will be more clarity on player futures in the coming weeks.
