LSU AD Says He Thought Lane Kiffin 'Was the Biggest Assh--e' at Ole Miss

Sometimes first impressions don't last a lifetime.

LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry told Blake Toppmeyer of USA Today he didn't exactly have the highest opinion of his school's newest football coach in Lane Kiffin in the past.

"When he first got to Ole Miss, we all thought he was the biggest assh--e in the room," Ausberry said.

Toppmeyer reported Ausberry did not think Kiffin was ready for the LSU job in 2021 after the Tigers fired Ed Orgeron. Ausberry was the deputy AD at the time, but his tune changed after Brian Kelly did not exactly work out as planned.

"He has matured as a head coach," the AD said of Kiffin. "The timing was right. We needed a different type of energy around here."

He also changed his stance, adding "I won't say he's an assh--e, but (certain coaches) have that edge."

LSU will need that edge to bounce back from the end of the Kelly era, which saw it go 9-4 in 2024 and 7-6 in 2025. The last time the program made the College Football Playoff was the 2019 campaign when Joe Burrow led it to a national championship, which is quite the drought for one of the sport's most notable teams.

Kiffin helped lead Ole Miss to the CFP last season, although his dramatic and high-profile exit meant he did not coach in the actual postseason games.

But he did win double-digit contests in four of the last five years with Ole Miss and helped the program find more success than the Tigers enjoyed during that time period. 

Kiffin wasted no time bringing in talent at LSU with the top-ranked transfer portal class for 2026, per 247Sports' composite rankings. Whether he can parlay that talent into a successful season remains to be seen with difficult games against Clemson, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama, Texas and Tennessee, but the foundation is in place.

And he has clearly won over his new AD as well despite previous opinions.