Nick Saban reveals how LSU football and Lane Kiffin can contend

Lane Kiffin enters year one at LSU football with a chance to make the College Football Playoff. This isn’t a typical debut season — Kiffin and the Tigers signed the top-ranked transfer portal classes and retained star players like Trey’Dez Green and Whit Weeks.

Few understand Kiffin better than former Alabama head coach Nick Saban. Kiffin called plays for Saban from 2014-16, helping the Tide win a national title. Earlier this week, Saban was on the Pat McAfee show and talked about what he expects to see from Kiffin’s outfit in 2026.

“I think that Lane did really well in terms of roster management, bringing 59 new players in and a very good recruiting class but also a very good top-end bunch of guys out of the portal. They’ve got some really good players,” Saban said.

Saban said he doesn’t think there’s any doubt that Kiffin will be successful at LSU. Saban wonders if the turnaround will be immediate, but he sees potential in LSU’s roster.

“Sam Leavitt, if that guy comes through at quarterback, I think they’ve got enough pieces around on defense, as well as on offense, to be a really good team and a contending team,” Saban said.

Saban acknowledged the high expectations of coaching at a place like LSU, but said it’s better to be at a place that expects to win titles, even with the pressure, than coach at a place like Kent State. Saban says Kiffin has the tools to deal with the pressure and meet the expectations in Baton Rouge.

“I think LSU is a tremendous job. They’ve got a lot of good players in the state. Those players like to stay close to home. They love LSU. He’s got a really good fan base. He’s got a lot of support. I think the administration is aligned to help him be successful,” Saban said.

“[Lane Kiffin] wanna win, just like the players wanna win, just like the fans wanna win.”

Nick Saban talks about Lane Kiffin holding himself and LSU football to the highest standards 👀

(via @PatMcAfeeShow) pic.twitter.com/B20DlUISeD

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) July 23, 2026

“He’s been successful everywhere he’s been,” Saban added.

This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: Nick Saban reveals how LSU football and Lane Kiffin can contend