Lane Kiffin, after a dramatic 2025 season, is finally where he wanted to be. The Tigers’ head coach has a lot to prove in his debut at the position. However, Kiffin received a strong warning from Nick Saban before landing at Baton Rouge.

Kiffin could have happily spent some more time at Oxford, especially after the Rebels’ hot run in the playoffs. But LSU’s constant wooing and strong push made that idea bleak for him. He was also being approached for the Florida job, for which he was a favorite. Caught in a dilemma, Kiffin sought advice from former boss, Nick Saban.

“When I called Coach Saban and talked it through with him, he said, ‘Lane, you’ll always regret if you don’t go to LSU. It’s the best job in America,’” Kiffin recalled from that conversation at the Leadership Power Breakfast event on January 20. “And when he said that, that really made the decision for me. And as I’ve looked at it, it has pushed me.

“It has gotten me out of a comfort zone that we were doing amazing things. But you come here, and you feel the power of the place, and it drives you every day to even go to another level.”

The buzz around Lane Kiffin’s departure from Ole Miss picked up at a time when numerous head coaching jobs opened up. But nobody fought for him harder than LSU. The Tigers got into the mix a little late, firing Brian Kelly after Florida had fired Billy Napier. But they dangled an attractive $91 million-worth contract to lure Kiffin. The coach called the right person to quell his doubts about Baton Rouge, because this move stood to make or break his career.

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Nick Saban began his college football career at LSU before moving to Alabama. LSU was the job that first put Nick Saban on the map as a CFB head coach. He became the first Tigers head coach after Paul Dietzel to record 2 seasons with more than 10 wins. And, he also brought Baton Rouge its second national championship in 2003. Saban practically transformed LSU into a competitor who could take on the giants on a regular basis. Lane Kiffin is no Nick Saban, but he has a chance at replicating this success. Thanks to Saban’s successes with the program, Kiffin’s job at LSU is far from easy.

Championships are a constant expectation here, since the Tigers have won two national titles in the 2000s and one in the 2010s. He has to manage talent that is a class above what he recruited at Ole Miss, which should make his job easier. Kiffin also stirred up a commotion with his new hires. His first major win as a head coach was to win the commitment of star quarterback Sam Leavitt from the portal, after LSU nearly blew the opportunity.

Lane Kiffin had already announced in his introductory press conference at LSU that he spoke to Saban before taking the job. However, it was only in the leadership event that the new head coach revealed what the veteran actually told him. That’ll help Saban clear his name a little bit, after he was labelled to have created a conflict of interest in supporting Lane Kiffin’s departure.

How Nick Saban fought allegations of guiding Kiffin to LSU from Ole Miss

Kiffin now says that the talk with Saban moved the needle for him in his decision to accept the Tigers HC job. But at that time, the Natty-winning coach had also advocated for Kiffin to be allowed to lead the Rebels through the playoffs. This is what created the conflict of interest in uqesition.

“Bad look. Period,” 3 Man Front’s Pat Smith shared of Saban adopting the feet in two boats strategy. But the latter claims he didn’t intend to be the domino that sealed things for Lane Kiffin and LSU.

“I get a lot of calls because some people view me maybe as a senior professional that has a lot of experience in the game, after 50 years, 25 years of the head coach,” Saban said on College GameDay. “So as a person, as a human being, you want to help everybody you can. You know, I’m kind of in this for the betterment of the game, really, for the players and coaches.

“I want them to follow their heart in terms of what they want to accomplish and what they want to do. I never tell anybody what they should do. I just try to bring some thought into it so that they can make good decisions for themselves and their family and their future.”

Now, Nick Saban will watch Lane Kiffin take over a program that the former led. But only time will tell if Kiffin can do the “best job in America” justice. He will have to start a blank slate in the 2026 season, with a lot more on the line compared to the pressure he faced at Ole Miss. If Kiffin messes this one up, not even Saban coming to his defense will save his career from becoming handicapped.