Brian Kelly thinks Lane Kiffin will win a national title at LSU

Brian Kelly may have some bad blood toward LSU, which fired him midway through the 2025 season despite his 34-14 record in four years. Still, he thinks his former program will succeed under new coach Lane Kiffin.

During an interview with USA TODAY Sports' John Brice and Blake Toppmeyer, Kelly said he thinks Kiffin will win a national championship as the coach of the Tigers. Though he said that wasn't a solid "yes," he explained that Kiffin has received significant NIL investment from the school — perhaps a bit of a backhanded compliment about the resources afforded to Kelly during his tenure with the school.

"I think so," Kelly said. "That wasn't yes. Here's why I would say yes. 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.

"He's not going to take the 18-year-old kid and develop them all the way through the ranks. And that's fine, because that's what they wanted. I think with those things in place, he can win the national championship."

Though Kelly did seem to sneak a potential shot in toward LSU, he also points out that Kiffin's style of heavily utilizing the transfer portal will be a departure from his own strategy. He believes that's what the Tigers wanted when they hired Kiffin, and they've provided him the resources to do so.

Whether the decision to move on from Kelly and make Kiffin one of the highest-paid coaches in the sport remains to be seen, but the former is confident in the latter.

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