Lane Kiffin is embracing the villain role once again. After LSU's dominant 51-10 victory over Clemson on Saturday night, the Tigers head coach made it clear he has zero regrets about his halftime jab at ESPN.
With his team already up big, Kiffin capped an on-field interview with Holly Rowe by quipping, "Imagine if we had pro players," before jogging off. The comment was a direct shot at the controversy swirling around LSU's recent additions of former NFL signees Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, who did not play in Week 1.
When asked about the wisecrack after the game, Kiffin didn't mince words. "What's the difference? Everybody hates you. They can't hate you that much more. So there you go. You got another line," he said with a shrug.
The 50-year-old coach acknowledged the risk of his antics overshadowing the team's performance, but he was relieved that the blowout kept the focus on the win. "I'm just really glad they played the way they did, so that wouldn't have been the story," Kiffin explained. "Because I get it … even if we won close and kind of ugly, the whole story would have been, 'Man, I screwed the team up by doing this.'"
Kiffin has been under fire for weeks over his handling of the NFL-to-college pipeline, with critics accusing him of bending the rules. But he insists his actions were about fighting for what's right for his players. "My job is not to please you and worry about what you're going to write. My job is what I believe is right, and I believe we're fighting for what was right for those kids," he said. "I'm not going to get into all the reasons, but that's what I believe. And so many people don't like that, but they don't understand that."
This isn't the first time Kiffin has stirred the pot. From his run-ins with Nick Saban to his feud with Dabo Swinney, the coach has never shied away from controversy. Even his star-studded entrance with Livvy Dunne before the game turned heads, and his daughter Landry stole the show with a Tigers-themed outfit.
Love him or hate him, Kiffin knows how to keep things interesting. The Tigers will look to keep their momentum rolling next week when they host Louisiana Tech in Death Valley.
