When Lane Kiffin took the head coaching job at LSU, he expected to be drawing up plays, not breaking up fights. But after multiple brawls erupted in spring camp, Kiffin’s role has been forced to expand far beyond the football field.

“I thought it was better, I thought their mindset was better,” Kiffin said to the media after the Tigers’ latest spring practice. “And again, that’s what you are supposed to do. You’re the coach. You’re gonna walk in, and everything is gonna be the way you want it to be. So, I’m not complaining about that. That’s just part of the process.

We had no fights today, and we had like six fights the other day. We had to teach them that we don’t fight. You’ve got to go back and teach everything from the beginning as if they don’t know anything.”

In the second week of spring practice, one would expect purely football updates from a coach who is just three months into his task of reviving a program back to its glory days. But someone as meticulous as Lane Kiffin, basic moral lessons are a part of the package he brings.

Of course, fights break out during practices all the time. Just a few weeks ago, Colorado players were going at it. However, six fights in a single day sounds like a lot. But given that Kiffin reconstructed the roster through the portal, a lot of players might be trying to prove themselves to get a nod at a starting role. 

The distraction of settling quarrels instead of focusing on the team whose overall performance ranked 60th nationally cannot be gainsaid. And even if he were forced by the constant fighting, Lane Kiffin seems just fine juggling settling six fights in one day and working on an offense whose 22.8 points-per-game average ranked 103rd in the nation.

“When you come in, you really can’t expect or assume anything. That’s the way that I approach it… No matter where you are, especially because there’s so many coming from different places. I talk to our coaches about them a lot. They may want to assume that they know how to do this, but don’t assume that. Go back to the beginning of everything.”

Expectedly, the outcome of dealing with an emotional crisis cannot be avoided. The LSU Tigers have yet to meet Kiffin’s standards even after two weeks of spring practice. In particular, Kiffin called out the offense for its deficiencies in the passing game. Sadly, it is so discouraging that he has asked fans for some time to address the offensive issues plaguing the LSU Tigers.

“I wish there was more execution going on, especially, you know, offensively and in the passing game,” he said. “But again, you’ve got all these new pieces—basically an expansion team on offense—it’s going to take some time. Now, if our fans get mad, I didn’t say years. It’s just going to take some time.”

Lane Kiffin’s leadership questioned by former player

The irony of Kiffin’s controversial exit from Ole Miss is that he now finds himself teaching players how to handle situations he arguably mishandled himself. One of those who experienced Kiffin leaving the Rebels at a time he was most needed was quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. Chambliss gave Kiffin a sad reality check when he was asked to compare him with Pete Golding, Kiffin’s replacement at Ole Miss. 

“The personalities are a little different than our old coach and coach Golding. I’d say he’s more of a team guy,” Chambliss said. “We really value his leadership, whatever he says. He shows you faster than I can tell you. He leads by his actions, and we really appreciate that.”

While Chambliss didn’t directly take a shot at his former head coach, the ‘leading-by-action’ part is a stark reminder of how Lane Kiffin mishandled his exit from Oxford. What could have been a storybook ending for a program reaching the playoffs for the first time in his tenure turned into a chaotic situation because Kiffin had Baton Rouge on his mind. Ultimately, his request to coach Ole Miss while being employed by its SEC rival was denied.

On their part, the Rebels almost made it to the national championship game, a stage Kiffin is dying to get to since becoming a head coach.