LSU tight end Trey’Dez Green didn’t just welcome new head coach Lane Kiffin to Baton Rouge. He made it sound like the program had been running on empty.
“He’s exactly what we’ve been missing there,” Green told Jacques Doucet of WAFB-TV Sports, referring to Kiffin.
That one line is hard to read as anything but a subtle jab at Brian Kelly, the man Kiffin replaced. Kelly was fired midway through last season after LSU got blown out at home by Texas A&M. The Tigers were 6-4 at the time, and the season had unraveled fast. The administration didn’t hesitate — they moved on before Kelly could finish the year, and within weeks, Kiffin was in the building.
A messy breakup with Ole Miss — and a quick trigger in Baton Rouge
Kiffin’s exit from Ole Miss wasn’t clean. He left just before the Rebels’ playoff run, and when he asked to stick around and coach them through the postseason, Ole Miss said no. So Kiffin watched from afar as his former team marched to the College Football Playoff semifinals before falling to Miami. Now he’s tasked with doing something LSU hasn’t done since 2019: get back into the national title picture.
That 2019 team, led by Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson, and Ja’Marr Chase, set a standard that Kelly never came close to matching. The Tigers haven’t been a serious playoff contender since. Kiffin’s arrival signals a reset — and Green’s comments suggest the locker room already feels the shift.
“We’re just ready to put a show on for the state of Louisiana,” Green added, per Doucet.
What Kiffin inherits — and what comes next
LSU’s offseason has been all about rebranding. Kiffin brings offensive firepower and a knack for quarterback development, two things that made him a star at Alabama and Ole Miss. The question is whether he can get LSU back to elite status in a loaded SEC. The Tigers open the 2026 season in September, and all eyes will be on Oxford later in the year when Kiffin returns to face his former team.
Green’s praise is telling. Players don’t usually volunteer that their new coach is exactly what was missing unless they felt something was broken. Kelly’s tenure was marked by stagnant offense and a defense that couldn’t hold up in big moments. Kiffin’s style is the opposite — aggressive, creative, and unafraid to take risks. For a team that’s been searching for an identity, that might be exactly what they needed.
Whether Kiffin can deliver the results to match the hype will determine how long the honeymoon lasts. But for now, the Tigers have a tight end who’s not afraid to say what he thinks — and what he thinks is that the program just got the jolt it needed.
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