Lane Kiffin just made a major mistake at LSU, but he’s refusing to admit it and it’s going to cost the Tigers
LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin just made a major misstep, but he’s refusing to admit it.
LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin made a mistake.
And it was a completely avoidable mistake.
Former Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels isn’t happy that sophomore cornerback DJ Pickett, a former five-star recruit, is set to wear No. 5 this season. The former Tiger doesn’t want LSU to use his name, image, and likeness as a result of feeling disrespected.
Daniels, of course, wore No. 5 during his incredible Heisman Trophy-winning season in 2023 when he passed for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns while rushing for 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Pickett was promised by the previous coaching staff — when they were recruiting him to LSU — that he could wear No. 5 in Baton Rouge.
Former LSU head coach Brian Kelly, however, told ESPN that while he believes the number was promised, he didn’t give Pickett the number in 2025 because Daniels wasn’t on board with it.
“I just wasn’t prepared to do it until we got a full commitment from another Heisman Trophy winner,” said Kelly. “We didn’t want to issue No. 9, so you can’t treat one differently from the other.”
Kiffin, though, went ahead and gave the number to Pickett because of what was promised during the recruiting process by the previous staff.
“DJ is in [No.] 5, and that was a situation that was promised to him in recruiting here, for him to sign here,” said Kiffin earlier this month. “I’ve done a lot of research on that with the family and the representatives and the people, so really I didn’t have a decision to make. It was promised to the kid. It wasn’t done for whatever [reason]. I’m not going to get into that.
“I’m not going to judge something [that was done] when I wasn’t here. But when a kid is promised something to come to a school, he should wear it. So at that point, I don’t think that’s really my decision. We should honor what he was told.”
Regardless of how you feel about Daniels’ being miffed, I think it’s Kiffin that made the misstep here.
It was Kelly’s staff that made the apparent promise. And I’m guessing that Kelly wasn’t on board with the promise being made, based on the way he handled the situation during Pickett’s true freshman season.
Kelly didn’t give the number out because of Daniels’ stance on it and then Kiffin showed through his actions that he didn’t care about Daniels’ stance and handed the number out anyway (in that sense, I understand why Daniels feels disrespected).
I mean, Lane, give Daniels a call and at least have a conversation. What are we doing here? You just alienated one of the greatest quarterbacks in LSU history. And it didn’t have to happen. Kelly already did the hard part by not giving Pickett the number last season. Kiffin had an easy out — he didn’t make the promise and a legendary former LSU quarterback wasn’t on board with it.
It’s a sticky situation and it’s likely all because Kelly’s staff made a promise while feeling pressure to land Pickett (former LSU assistant Frank Wilson reportedly helped “close the deal”). I get it. But Kiffin should’ve held off on giving the number out. He should’ve respected Daniels’ wishes even if it seemed silly to him.
