Lane Kiffin is a man in the spotlight, and that will rarely be more true than on the night of Saturday, Sept. 19.
That’s because the new LSU head football coach is going to match up with his former program, Ole Miss.
Ole Miss is the team that Kiffin left in the midst of the College Football Playoff to move to Baton Rouge. He didn’t see out their special 2025 season with them. Instead, he left for a new gig.
And only a few weeks into the 2026 season, they meet already.
Both are top-10 teams, and the clash brings SEC firepower with some good beyond-the-field drama.
Maybe Kiffin was always going to leave, but his timing, and his comments at the time, certainly made things trickier.
It’s not just Kiffin in the spotlight, either. His family has gotten plenty of attention throughout this saga, too.
Is Lane Kiffin Married?
Kiffin was married but his current marital status is a bit complicated.
He got married to his ex-wife, Layla, in 2004.
They were they divorced in 2016.
In recent times, though, Lane and Layla have reconciled and are back together, according to Sports Illustrated. It’s not entirely clear whether they are legally married again or if they are just back together.
Lane Kiffin’s Kids
Lane Kiffin had three kids while married to Layla.
Landry is their first child and attended Ole Miss while Kiffin coached there. She added some headlines to the mix by dating an LSU linebacker, Whit Weeks.
Their second daughter Presley arrived about two years later. She now plays volleyball at USC.
The couple then welcomed a son, who they named Monte Knox — Lane’s father’s name, and a nod to Knoxville, where they were about to move for Lane to be the head coach at the University of Tennessee.
Lane Kiffin Coaching Timeline
Kiffin has had a long and winding coaching journey.
He had coaching in his genes as the son of long-time NFL defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin.
Lane began his coaching career at Fresno State as an assistant coach. He was a backup quarterback there but instead became a student assistant as a senior rather than continue playing.
From there, Kiffin spent one year as a graduate assistant at Colorado State.
He then went to the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars for a season as a defensive quality control coach.
That brought Kiffin to USC. He began with the Trojans as the tight ends coach, then took over the wide receiver coach position. From there, Kiffin was elevated to passing game coordinator, and then fully to offensive coordinator.
His USC success earned him a spot as the Oakland Raiders‘ head coach, and from there, he was Tennessee’s college head coach for a year.
Kiffin then went back to USC to be their head coach from 2010-13.
After that, Kiffin was the offensive coordinator under Nick Saban at Alabama.
Kiffin has made three head coaching stops since: Florida Atlantic, Ole Miss and now LSU.
He has a career 118-53 college coaching record entering the Ole Miss-LSU game, including 4-4 in bowl games. He was just 5-15 in NFL games as a head coach.
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