Beyond the football controversies, Lane Kiffin is marking a quiet but profound five-year anniversary. It’s a personal milestone born from a decision that he says changed not only his life but also the lives of many around him, and it has nothing to do with a playbook.

Kiffin is celebrating five years of being sober, a habit that took a toll on him at one point. He took to X and posted two sets of pictures with his wife, niece, and nephew, celebrating the moment.

“Welp, 5 years ago today, I made a decision that would change my life and many others around me,” he wrote. “I want to say to anyone that has something holding you back from being the best version of yourself you can do it!! It won’t be easy at all, but I promise you it will be worth it,” he added.

The celebration gives us a moment to recognize how far Kiffin has come in his journey. At one point, drinking had become a major issue in his personal and professional life. It all started with his USC tenure and later continued to his Oakland Raiders stint. During the 2013 Sun Bowl, Kiffin was seen with a noticeable scrape on his forehead. He went to great lengths to hide that scrape, applying makeup to conceal it from the media. However, later reports from inside the program emerged that he suffered an injury from falling at a hotel after drinking heavily. That happened at a time when the Trojans had fired him.

It was only in his Ole Miss stint that the 50-year-old started taking tangible steps to quit drinking. Initially, he vowed not to consume red meat, alcohol, or bread for 10 days. But the effect of those 10 days was unreal, as Kiffin felt “much better” and continued that journey, going 17 months without alcohol.

“To me it’s not just getting sober, not just physically, but emotionally, having emotional sobriety,” Kiffin told the Pivot podcast last year. “It’s one thing to not drink, it’s another thing to get yourself figured out, really calm, and having emotional sobriety. I can deal with these things, can let them go, and figure out how to deal with them.

I just got to the point that I am not the best version of myself, I am not. You know we’d lose a game, or win a game, and I’m going to go have drinks, eat bad, not workout and I started gaining weight and figured out this wasn’t the full me. I really didn’t start as ‘I’m never going to drink’ thing, I started by saying I’m going on a cleanse diet and it was like no red meat, no bread, no alcohol and I did it for so long, felt amazing, and was like ‘why would I go back?’”

The decision not only helped him reach highs in his coaching career but also paid dividends in his personal life. He reconnected with his ex-wife, and the two are now ever more present in their children’s lives.

Fans congratulate Lane Kiffin for his sobriety journey

Quitting drinking was the first step in Kiffin’s journey to finding his calmer, more reflective self. His family helped massively, and his daughter, Landry, even gifted him a starry heart constellation to mark his sobriety milestone. Other steps in Kiffin’s transformation included practicing hot yoga and pilates, as well as adopting a strict diet regimen. All of it contributed not just to improving personal life but also to on-field success.

“Keep pushing, Coach. Congratulations!!!” wrote one user on X. Another user detailed his own sobriety journey and described how he lost weight and became a better person. “I stopped drinking 20 years ago and decided 3 years ago to lose weight. Both made me a better person and father, so I get you coach.”

For Kiffin, the journey of being alcohol-free didn’t happen in a vacuum, and there were several failed attempts, too. However, for the LSU head coach, the turning point came when he saw himself in the mirror in a bowl game and compared himself to an anaconda. Kiffin described his unprecedented weight gain due to alcohol and immediately decided to quit drinking.

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Now that Kiffin is five years sober, everyone is noticing the positive difference in his physical appearance. “Pretty inspiring. The physical difference is obvious. 👏🏽,” wrote one user. Whereas another user called Kiffin’s milestone “beautiful” and had unending praise for the job the LSU head coach had done. “Let’s go, dude! Love that! 6 years sober here and life is so beautiful beyond the finish line.”

At Ole Miss, Kiffin was also helped by other people in quitting drinking. Former Ole Miss QB Matt Corral reportedly challenged his head coach to not drink during the 2021 season, and Kiffin followed it without complaints. The decision paid off, and Corral was in the running for the Heisman as Ole Miss finished with 10 wins. In a sense, Kiffin’s sobriety decision might have been a prime factor in Ole Miss’s success under him. It’s like how one user described it. “This post goes beyond football. Great accomplishment, coach,” wrote the user.