Brian Kelly says Lane Kiffin can do the one thing he couldn’t at LSU

Brian Kelly was fired at LSU primarily because he didn't win a national championship — something his three predecessors on the Bayou did. Nick Saban won one in 2003, Les Miles won one in 2007 and Ed Orgeron won one in 2019.

So will Kelly's successor in Baton Rouge bring the Tigers a national championship?

EXCLUSIVE: Brian Kelly says he was fired for not winning enough at LSU — not golfing too much

Kelly joined USA TODAY Sports' "Sports Seriously: College Football Show" this week and was asked: Yes or no, will Lane Kiffin win a title at LSU?

LSU head coach Brian Kelly and Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin shake hands after a college football game between Ole Miss and LSU at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025.

"I think so," Kelly said. "That wasn't yes... Here's why I would say yes, okay, I think that they have invested in NIL for him. They have given him the opportunity. There's a lot of good things moving in that direction. The recruiting classes are really in solid shape. And I think Lane's a really smart football coach, so I think it's in a really good place, and I believe because there's an investment in that NIL he's going to be able to be Lane Kiffin. And that's important.

"You know he's not going to take the 18-year-old kid and develop him, you know all the way through the ranks. And that's fine. And because that's what they wanted. I think with those things in place he can win the national championship. And I'm sorry, that was a long answer, but that's that's kind of how I feel."