Lane Kiffin Reveals Impact of Nick Saban Telling Him He'd 'Regret' Not Taking LSU HC Job on Video

New LSU head coach Lane Kiffin leaned on the advice of a college football legend when making his decision of whether or not to take the job with the Tigers.

Kiffin revealed that former Alabama coach Nick Saban encouraged him to go to LSU, calling it "the best job in America."

"I told the story at the press conference, but I was torn. And when I called Coach Saban and talked it through with him, he said: 'You know, Lane, you'll always regret if you don't go to LSU — it's the best job in America,'" Kiffin said. "And when he said that, it really made the decision for me. And as I've looked at it, it has pushed me, it has gotten me out of a comfort zone. That we were doing amazing things (at Ole Miss), but you come here and you feel the power of the place, and it drives you every day to even go to another level."

Kiffin agreed to take over as LSU's head coach in December after six seasons with Ole Miss. While the advice from Saban may have influenced his decision, the financial aspect likely helped as well, as he reportedly signed a seven-year, $91 million deal, making him one of just three coaches to make more than $12 million a year.

Along with Saban, Kiffin sought the advice of former Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll, who Kiffin described as one of his mentors.

"This was really hard," he told ESPN's Marty Smith. "My heart was here, but I talked to some mentors, Coach (Pete) Carroll, Coach (Nick) Saban and Coach Carroll said, 'Your dad would tell you to go, man. Take the shot. You accomplished a lot here.'"

Kiffin coached under Carroll at USC from 2001 to 2006 and was on Saban's staff at Alabama from 2014 to 2016.

While Saban's best years came with the Crimson Tide, he knows a thing or two about coaching in Baton Rouge. He was the Tigers coach from 2000 to 2004, winning a national championship in 2003. Kiffin will look to have that kind of success with the Tigers in the coming years.

The season hasn't started yet, but Kiffin is off to a good start in Baton Rouge. He has one of the best transfer portal classes of any school and landed arguably the top player in the portal, quarterback Sam Leavitt.