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NCAA, College League, USA Football: Texas Bowl-Houston vs Louisiana State Dec 27, 2025 Houston, TX, USA Louisiana State Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin, left, stands next to Louisiana State Tigers athletic director Verge Ausberry, right, prior to the game against the Houston Cougars at NRG Stadium. Houston NRG Stadium TX USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xMariaxLysakerx 20251227_mcl_la6_044
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NCAA, College League, USA Football: Texas Bowl-Houston vs Louisiana State Dec 27, 2025 Houston, TX, USA Louisiana State Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin, left, stands next to Louisiana State Tigers athletic director Verge Ausberry, right, prior to the game against the Houston Cougars at NRG Stadium. Houston NRG Stadium TX USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xMariaxLysakerx 20251227_mcl_la6_044
The popular consensus is that if you have the deepest pockets to spend on the roster in the rev-share era, you could easily win the natty in any of the major collegiate sports. The LSU Tigers Athletic Director Verge Ausberry thinks it’s not even remotely true anymore.
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“I don’t think so,” the AD said when Matt Moscona asked if the LSU Tigers can compete for a national championship in every sport in the NIL revenue-sharing era. “I think it’d be very smart of how you do it… I think it has a special talent in a sport that you might say, okay, you know what? Could we do something here with NIL dollars to do it, to get this person here, but to say that we could spread the money over everything right now, then that’s not going to happen.”
The university bossman basically admitted that the “glory days” of winning titles in every single sport are most definitely over. With the new revenue-sharing rules kicking into place, he made it pretty clear that schools can’t just throw money at every program and expect a natty or so. He was super blunt about it, saying that trying to spread NIL dollars across the board just isn’t realistic anymore, honestly, no school in the country, not even the likes of Texas Tech, can pull it off. Why? Because it’s not feasible anymore, and nobody has that type of money to spare each season.
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Can LSU still compete for national championships in every sport in the NIL era?
The new reality suggests the Tigers may have to prioritize. 🐯💰#LSU #GeauxTigers #NIL @MattMoscona pic.twitter.com/UjbEP1OJuj
— 104.5 ESPN (@1045espn) April 9, 2026
Ausberry explained that the athletic departments now have to be way more strategic than they was ever before. He compared this to a university picking which academic programs to prioritize. Basically, more or less, LSU has to sit down with all the coaches every year and then they have to decide which specific sports they are going to be “great” at.
While they’ll still support everyone, the financial backing required to win a national title means they have to pick their battles carefully rather than trying to be number one in every single category. So, when was the last time a program won multiple championships in the NIL revenue era? Exactly.
Ausberry is tempering expectations. He hinted that while you can use NIL to land “special talent” like these guys, simply buying a stacked roster doesn’t guarantee a “natty” in this new world. The financial squeeze is already causing a bit of a shake-up. Ausberry pointed out that we’re seeing “Power Four” coaches jump ship to mid-major schools because the business side of things is getting so chaotic. When the money isn’t there to build a championship roster, even the best coaches start looking for different opportunities in the Group of Five or elsewhere.
Ultimately, the goal here for LSU is to figure out their identity in this new world of rev-share. It’s all about being smart with NIL dollars. Maybe using them to land one or two or a couple of special talents that can carry a team rather than trying to pay for an entire elite roster in every sport.
Since LSU and Verge Ausberry decided to put their all-in on football for this year, this brings us to the elephant in the room: Lane Kiffin and the LSU football team. Even though Kiffin and the university apparently spent 40 million to assemble its football roster and racked up the No. 1 transfer class in America, Lane Kiffin says the success doesn’t happen overnight, ironically.
Lane Kiffin holding back the Kiffin train?
There is very little patience for what Lane Kiffin and LSU are trying to do. Kiffin said last week, “Things don’t happen overnight,” as he started spring practice with the most expensive roster in college football. People expect instant success because of all the money and talent LSU has brought in.
Kiffin left Ole Miss during a national championship run to take the LSU job. LSU even paid former coach Brian Kelly $54 million not to coach, and the governor of Louisiana helped make Kiffin’s hire happen. He also brought his top young offensive coordinator with him to Baton Rouge and signed the most expensive transfer class ever ($40 million), including a championship-level quarterback in Sam Leavitt of Arizona state.
Kiffin has spent the offseason showing confidence and talking the talk on social media. However, that said, it is not easy to create chemistry between players and coaches with 40 new players, a mostly new offense, and a rebuilt defense.
