One of the benefits of bringing Lane Kiffin to LSU as head coach has already paid off from a marketing standpoint, thanks to the circus-like atmosphere that followed him from Ole Miss to Baton Rouge towards the end of last season.
As he ushers in a new era of football with the Tigers, the expectations are following him 320 miles south to the Bayou of Louisiana with fall camp getting underway Wednesday morning in the humid atmosphere that is known to plenty around the south.
And with those expectations built from his time at Ole Miss, along with an expensive coaching staff and roster calling Baton Rouge home, come aspirations from a fan base starving to get back into the actual playoff conversation.
Let's all be honest about the situation that Kiffin has embraced with LSU: Every fan or booster that dons the purple and gold around the country are expecting big things in year one from the Tigers.
In reality, there's nowhere to run or hide from what awaits Lane Kiffin when he runs out of the tunnel on Labor Day weekend inside Tiger Stadium with Dabo Swinney's Clemson Tigers awaiting on the other side of the field.
This is the start of what could be a very prosperous story for the LSU athletic department, along with those who are craving a championship. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not implying the Tigers will be in contention for a spot in the CFP when the first week of November rolls around this season.
But, that doesn’t mean the LSU faithful aren’t secretly putting that type of pressure on the head coach who has made plenty of headlines during his short-lived stint in Baton Rouge up to this point.
When fans are paying an steep price to get into the show, they want to be entertained, no matter what year this is for the head coach. Over the years, that part has been missing from the LSU football program, lost in the chaos of Brian Kelly's tenure.
Couple that with Kelly's firing last season, and the madness that ensued during a coaching search that garnered non-stop headlines from those who cover the sport, those who are invested in the Tigers football program are expecting a show every weekend.
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Whether that is reasonable is up to those who are involved in the daily grind, either on the field or inside the athletic department. Spending over $40 million on a roster that should be able to win this season brings those types of expectations.
That's just the world we live in right now with college athletics, so there's no running from the spotlight.
The moment Lane Kiffin boarded that private jet sitting on an Oxford, Mississippi, tarmac was the turning point in the eyes of the same fans who were listening to Governor Jeff Landry complain about the buyout LSU was having to pay Brian Kelly to go away.
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With this type of marketing plan comes great expectations, even if Lane hasn't been enthralled in the hoopla.
"I don't know if I feel a lot of that, and that's not a non-answer," Kiffin started. "I'm in the building so much, I don't really get out a whole lot so I probably don't feel that as much. But when I do get out, I do feel it. I hear out, like with the season ticket sales and fans excitement for the opener. Somebody talked about ticket prices being really high.
"So, I think that's great. I think it's all part of it. When you hire a coach, that's part of what you hire. You hire the energy that comes around it. That's the business element, and that pays off in fan support, donations, in recruiting and players wanting to come."
But, just because someone is bringing excitement to the program doesn’t mean success is going to follow. Selling tickets obviously doesn’t translate to competing at the level in which LSU fans expect.
"Obviously, the number one thing to do is win, to maintain that excitement," Lane Kiffin explained. "With that comes a lot of expectations to perform and do well. And, the expectations are extremely high here, which is ok. I knew that coming in. That matches how I think. So, I know there's not going to be thoughts of well that was the record here last year, so we should just improve a little bit.
"I get it. But, I also know that as we've been here and seen the success of what's come in recruiting and how nationally how recruit have felts that have been here or in this next class, I know that as good as we are right now, this is just the beginning. And, in the season after we'll have a better roster.
Kiffin understands that excuses aren’t going to fly, even if some are valid about recruiting during a time when coaches were traveling back and forth from Oxford to Baton Rouge.
In reality, the LSU coach lives for these types of expectations, because he felt the same way at his previous stops. It's just how he's built, whether from an entertainment standpoint or seeing results on the field.
But, here we are. After months of waiting, the time to prove himself in a new town is upon us.
Four weeks from now, LSU fans will pack Tiger Stadium expecting a win over Clemson. While there have been hints of that type of feeling around Baton Rouge in previous years at times, this chapter of the Lane Kiffin story will be dictated on how the Tigers perform on the field this season.
It might not be 'fair', but it's just the reality of college football in 2026. And yes, the return to Ole
