Lane Kiffin’s LSU Era Faces Early Test as Greg McElroy Questions 39-Portal Plan
Lane Kiffin took the LSU job because the program is a sleeping giant. The problem is that the only way to wake the giant back up is to win immediately, and the early reviews on how he is trying to do it are mixed.
The Tigers fired their previous staff after a disappointing run, hired Kiffin away from Ole Miss, and watched their new head coach hit the transfer portal at a level that few programs have ever attempted. LSU added 39 portal players this offseason, including quarterback Sam Leavitt and a long list of veterans designed to plug every hole on the roster in one swing.
ESPN’s Greg McElroy is not convinced any of this is going to work by September.
The McElroy Concern
McElroy laid out the concern in plain terms on his radio show. Can a team build chemistry, install a new offense, integrate a new starting quarterback, and absorb 39 transfers in roughly four months? History says it is hard. There are no real recent precedents for a top-tier SEC program flipping its roster this aggressively and winning right away.
Kiffin’s offense is famously complicated. Leavitt is a talented quarterback who left Arizona State in part because of the Kiffin opportunity, but he has to learn the system and develop chemistry with a brand-new receiver corps. Every position group is essentially starting from scratch.
There is a reason the question is being asked. The SEC schedule does not wait. LSU has to be ready, and the typical timeline for that kind of overhaul is two years, not one.
Why LSU Did This
The Tigers had to take the swing. The roster Kiffin inherited had clear holes. The fan base was not going to tolerate another year of mediocrity. The administration committed to giving the new head coach the resources he needed to flip the roster, and Kiffin used that runway.
The 39-player approach is not new. Other SEC programs have rebuilt heavily through the portal in recent years. What is new is the scale. Kiffin essentially treated LSU’s roster like a clean slate, which is the kind of approach that either pays off in a 10-win season or leads to a chemistry disaster that nobody wants to talk about by Halloween.
What to Watch
Leavitt has to look comfortable by the time LSU opens its season. The defensive front has to gel quickly. The new receivers need to develop trust with their new quarterback during fall camp, and the offensive line needs to function as a unit by week one.
Other coaching hires made noise this offseason too. Bob Chesney left James Madison for UCLA. Billy Napier returned to James Madison after his Florida exit, taking over a Sun Belt champion program coming off a College Football Playoff appearance. The coaching carousel produced upheaval everywhere, but no program is being watched more closely than LSU.
The Stakes
LSU is paying Kiffin to win now. That is the agreement. The Tigers cannot afford another year of seven-win football and lost recruits, so Kiffin has to find a way to get this roster to play above expectations from week one.
If it works, the portal becomes the new SEC blueprint and Kiffin becomes the most copied coach in the country. If it does not, the conversation around LSU becomes uncomfortable very quickly, and Florida State’s Mike Norvell will not be alone at the top of the hot seat list by November.
Either way, the Tigers just gave college football its most interesting case study of the year. McElroy is asking the right questions. The answers come in September.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
