Lane Kiffin was announced as the head coach of the LSU Tigers in December. After a disappointing Brian Kelly era, LSU needed a breath of fresh air, and that is exactly what Kiffin brings. He was present at the 2026 SEC Football Media Days in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday, July 23. As head coach, Lane Kiffin also had a small group of his players with him. However, there was one notable absence.

Naturally, it is the quarterback, whose presence is important on these media days. However, Sam Leavitt was absent on the day. This led to a lot of doubts, but Coach Kiffin cleared the air around the situation. He explained that the quarterback was leading a team-led practice session on Thursday morning at the time of the media appearance, which was the reason he was unable to attend. During the media day, he also made it clear that Leavitt had become a major leader on the team this offseason.

Although Leavitt was absent, linebacker TJ Dottery, tight end Trey’Dez Green, and linebacker Whit Weeks were present on the day of the press conference.

The transfer from Arizona missed the spring practice as he was recovering from a surgery that took place in November. There are question marks about his health, as he only played seven games last season. However, coach Kiffin is not too worried about Leavitt’s health.

“I’m not worried about the health, I’m just concerned, like I would be with any first-time quarterback, about his transition with us and getting used to us,” Kiffin told ESPN. “Game day with the guy, experience matters.”

Kiffin has developed some elite quarterback talent over the years. While Leavitt will take some time to settle into the system, he has shown in the past that he can be a CFB starter. His coach is confident in his ability and even compared him to his former player, who is a starting QB in the NFL.

Lane Kiffin compares Leavitt to Jaxson Dart

Jaxson Dart and Kiffin made history at Ole Miss. The duo spent three years together, and in that time, they transformed Ole Miss into one of the most fun CFB teams in the country. Dart left the school with the most wins, overtaking Eli Manning’s record.  After transferring from USC, Dart had a sensational career with Ole Miss, starting all games and ending his time with the program, recording 10,617 passing yards and 72 touchdowns.

His performance with Ole Miss helped him get selected in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Although Dart started the season as a backup to Russell Wilson, he became a starter after the New York Giants’ 0-3 start.

While Leavitt is yet to take a single snap for Kiffin, the coach believes that the QB could be a first-round selection in the first round of the 2027 NFL Draft.  He even compared his style to Dart, who was a star on the Ole Miss team Kiffin coached.

“I kind of feel like there’s some Jaxson in there,” Kiffin said. “He’s probably actually faster. But that’s the most similar that I’ve seen with him throwing with everything, just kind of working with him and watching him and trying to figure out like, ‘Okay, what are we going to look like and how are we going to design it?'”

Comparing Dart and Leavitt makes sense. In his first year with Arizona, which was a breakout season, Leavitt rushed for 443 yards. Although Dart recorded more than that in two of his four college years, Leavitt definitely has the dual-threat ability that the Giants QB also possessed in college, which has gone on to help him in the NFL.

Now we will have to wait and see if the LSU QB will be able to have a similar impact for Kiffin at LSU, which Dart had for the HC at Ole Miss.