Photo Credit: ESPN
By Matt Clapp on

While he was unable to make it to a scheduled appearance on College GameDay in December, Lane Kiffin made an appearance on ESPN college football programming during Saturday night’s broadcast of the Kinder’s Texas Bowl between LSU and No. 21 Houston.

In one of the biggest college football stories in recent memory, Kiffin left Ole Miss to become the head coach of LSU on Nov. 30. That was while Ole Miss was on the verge of making the College Football Playoff, and the Rebels — ranked No. 6 — have since won a CFP game to advance to the quarterfinal.

Kiffin did not coach LSU in the Texas Bowl; Frank Wilson has those duties as the Tigers’ interim head coach.

And sporting a leather jacket, Kiffin joined Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Cole Cubelic (color commentary) in the ESPN booth to begin the second quarter of the bowl game.

To begin the appearance, Kiffin was asked about the emotions he had as he watched Ole Miss beat Tulane 41-10 in the first round of the CFP.

“What are your emotions? What do you think when you watch the highlights from Oxford?” Hart asked Kiffin.

“It was awesome,” Kiffin said. “That was a great day. It really was. I’m not just saying that. To watch those guys and how much they were smiling. And to be able to have that success, and in the biggest game in the history of the state of Mississippi. And to blow out Tulane like that. It was awesome watching them. I was really excited for them.”

Cubelic then asked Kiffin, “What has been job No. 1 for you taking over as the LSU head football coach?”

“Well, I think first getting the staff,” Kiffin said. “And I think it’s been an interesting time frame with Ole Miss still playing, and we’ve let some of our coaches go back there to coach. And they’ve kind of been doing both jobs at the same time. But we had a little practice at that. I was thinking when I was with Coach (Nick) Saban, Kirby Smart went and took the Georgia job. And then he and a couple of his coaches, including the defensive coordinator, came back and helped us go win the national championship. And then went back to Georgia. So, we’re kind of in a similar position there. And so, getting the staff, and then now working on our own current players, and also evaluating all the players out there for the portal opening.”

Hart asked Kiffin about what he’s tried to focus on when watching the Texas Bowl, specifically about defensive coordinator Blake Baker, who’s joining Kiffin at LSU.

“Yeah, I didn’t have as much time as you’d think,” Kiffin explained. “I saw the opening kickoff… And then I get on the phone, because we had some people calling some agents. This is the world we live in now. It’s all day long.”

“Not your agent; that job’s done,” Hart quipped.

“Yeah, that one’s done,” Kiffin said. “This one’s a lot harder. But Blake’s done a great job. We’re excited to keep him. And that will keep a lot of the defensive players, I think, and keep the system the same, so there’s not so much transition. We’re excited about our offensive system that we bring in, the one that we’ve been running for a long time now, and we get to bring it to LSU with these players, whether they’re still here or getting ready to come… So it’s going to be an exciting time.”

“A big chunk of your staff is still with Ole Miss,” Hart said. “How have they handled this transition period trying to win a national championship?”

“Yeah, they’re doing a great job,” Kiffin said. “You saw their performance in their last game. And they came back after that game, came down here for a couple days. Now they’re back there. I was just on the phone with Charlie Weis. We were talking about quarterback rankings. We were going over them at night. So, sometimes we have our staff meetings, even though they’re back there, when [Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding] is done with his, and then we get on and have our own. So, we’re just trying to make it work for both sides, so Ole Miss can have the best chance to win the national championship, and then we can also be building what we are here.”

Cubelic came prepared with a grocery bag, mocking a viral video that surfaced on Friday of Kiffin bringing a shopping basket home because the store was charging for grocery bags.

“I’m glad you brought up learning things,” Cubelic said. “We got this for you (handing Kiffin a grocery bag). You’ve been learning a little bit there. Don’t worry about the 20 cents next time. You’ll have that on you.”

“Well, there’s a better story to it than really what it was,” Kiffin said. “First, Landry (Kiffin’s daughter) wasn’t supposed to post that. So, I was playing a little bit to Landry, kind of joking with her. But I was proud of myself that I went to self-checkout. All by myself… It was funny. I was in the aisles, and I was watching all the guys on FaceTime, because it’s Christmas, and they’re all on FaceTime with their wives because they don’t know how to shop. So, they’re having to learn from their wives because it’s their one day to go shopping. And then I got to the end, and then it was like, you’ve got to push the buttons on it. And it was like there were no bags. And then, so, I just put it in that and then walked out. We did bring the basket back.”

Kiffin was asked for his thoughts on the upcoming CFP quarterfinal matchup of Ole Miss-Georgia.

“Powerhouse game,” Kiffin said. “Split the last couple matchups, and now they’re going to play in the Sugar Bowl. I think that you have the best offense in the country, with now maybe what the best defense, lately, not earlier in the year, but lately Georgia’s been playing. So, I think that’s a big part of it… Georgia didn’t punt one time in the previous matchup and really drove the length of the field the whole day. So, can Ole Miss calm down Georgia’s offense and contain the quarterback?”

LSU lost the Texas Bowl 38-35 to Houston. Kiffin will make his LSU coaching debut on Sept. 5, 2026, vs. Clemson in Baton Rouge.

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.

He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

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