Lane Kiffin has 91 million reasons to not feel so bad that an entire state now hates him.
The new LSU and ex-Ole Miss coach’s new seven-year, $91 million contract seemingly makes him the second-highest-paid coach in the sport, according to Nola.com.
Only Georgia’s Kirby Smart would top Kiffin based on 2025 data, per USA Today, and represents a $4 million bump for his base salary with the Rebels.
Kiffin’s deal includes several performance-based bonuses, as expected.
Should Kiffin lead the Tigers to a national title, he has a clause that will make him the highest-paid coach in the sport, according to the report.
He also can get a $4 million bonus for LSU winning the SEC and the national title in the same season, with $1 million for the SEC crown and $3 million for being the best team in the country.
Kiffin’s deal reportedly also calls for LSU to pay 80 percent of his remaining contract in the case of a buyout to be paid monthly through 2032, but LSU would not owe him any money if he’s fired for cause.
LSU and ex-coach Brian Kelly had a dispute about his contract before the Tigers agreed to fire him without cause and allow him to receive the $54 million owed, per his contract situplations.
The Tigers already have stepped up to the plate to get this deal done, reportedly paying Kiffin’s $3 million buyout for leaving Ole Miss and agreeing to pay him for contract incentives he would have hit had he stayed with the Oxford, Miss. program through its expected College Football Playoff berth.
Kiffin will earn $150,000 for playing in a first-round game, which the Rebels are expected to do, and up to $1 million should Ole Miss wins the national title, per Nola.com.
This eye-popping contract comes not that long after Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry ripped Kelly for having a “terrible” contract.
“My role is about the fiscal effect of firing a coach under a terrible contract, OK?” Landry said in October after Kelly’s exit, according to ESPN. “All I care about is what the taxpayers are going to be on the hook (for). I was also not happy with the fact that we were raising ticket prices while we were having a losing season. And we were paying a coach $100 million and we were not getting the results.”
As these details leaked Monday, Kiffin seemingly is settling into his new abode.
He posted Monday a verse from a book with the caption: “Exhale. Have the best Monday ever. #GodsPlan 🇹🇹🐯.”
The verse stated: “Let the seams unravel and reform your entire life the way you really intend for it to be. When you are forced to let go, you are also asked to exhale. What does not hold is not meant to. If you are not certain, wait. Time reveals all truth, all knowing, all reality that will come to be. It will all become clear.”
Kiffin also posted a photo of the team’s last national title trophy from in 2020 in front of other titles, plus Jayden Daniels’ Heisman Trophy from 2023 in front of fellow individual and team awards.
