Of course, it will be Lane Kiffin with college football's first $60 million roster. The purported number is staggering, eclipsing other college football programs, except possibly Texas Tech. Unsurprisingly, it is Kiffin who is the coach to do it. He is the coach who most often gambles on fourth-down calls before passing midfield. He is by nature a high-wire act, tuned to risk-taking.
What risk, you ask? David Ubben argues that LSU fans will be quick to turn on Kiffin if the high-dollar roster does not produce: "Lane Kiffin’s expectations are going to be so high. And I think what happens here is they don’t love you. Like, they don’t love Lane Kiffin. Lane is a hired gun at this point. He’s got no relationship with LSU."
LSU is channeling Huey Long in terms of support for the Bengal Tigers football program. Current Governor Jeff Landry is not as powerful as Long was, and maybe not as obsessed with LSU football. Unlike Long, Landry is unlikely to demand that Kiffin run plays drawn up by the Governor. A target for Landry's ire was former LSU AD Scott Woodward, whom Landry demanded be fired for the large contract Woodward gave Brian Kelly. Landry claimed Kelly's contract was proof that college football was broken. Landry did an about-face when Kiffin was given a $91 million contract.
Is LSU really spending $60 million on football players?
David Pollack has been working on a documentary about NIL. In the process, he has gained considerable insider information about real player payroll numbers. Pollack recently said, "He (Lane Kiffin) literally spent more money than anybody this offseason. Maybe not Texas Tech. By the way, whatever your numbers are, here’s what I can tell you because I’m doing an NIL documentary right now and meeting with all these folks. You can say whatever you want about whatever the number roster is ... Go to 60 and then we can have a conversation. And you heard me right. 60,000,000,000 like and Lane Kiffin and them are way up there ..."
An indication that Pollack is correct is the recent report by Chris Hummer that LSU's acquisition of transfer offensive lineman Jordan Seaton was a $4 Million deal. Hummer actually wrote that Seaton's deal for the 2026 season "was more than $4 million." There may have been "additional incentives, such as cars and real estate." Whatever the deal is, it likely sets a new record for an offensive lineman.
LSU and Lane are wheeler-dealing in a way that would make Huey Long proud. The odds are Kiffin will become the most hated man in college football or the most hated man in the state of Louisiana.
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