SerpApi.Org
Lane Kiffin is a lot of things to a lot of people — depending on their perspective of course. But, above all things, even the first-year LSU head coach would acknowledge his affinity as a social media “troll.”
SEC head coaching colleague Kirby Smart of Georgia confirmed that designation, albeit playfully, during Tuesday’s appearance at the 2026 SEC Football Kickoff Media Days in Tampa. But not before Smart received the clarification that trolling generally involves “stirring the pot” online.
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“Yep, that’s him” Smart deadpanned, via WBRZ-2. “He would say I look like a troll, so I wanted to make sure it wasn’t defined by appearance, because certainly (Kiffin) is the Adonis of all college football coaches.”
Kiffin is notorious for his approach to social media, often using his X/Twitter account to troll rival fanbases — including those he used to coach at. Kiffin also likes to poke fun at opposing SEC head coaches, especially those he used to work with during his time as Alabama‘s offensive coordinator in the mid-2010s. That includes Smart, who served as the Crimson Tide’s defensive coordinator when the pair helped Alabama and head coach Nick Saban win the 2015 College Football Playoff national championship before taking over coaching duties at his alma mater.
“But he is very bright, he does an incredible job evolving with college football. He was really good at that with us at Alabama,” Smart continued. “He made Coach Saban uncomfortable — let’s just say what it is — and he helped (evolve) that offense, and bring it along and did some really good things in a day and age when people weren’t doing them. But he does a great job, he’s hard to play. I don’t like having to play his teams, because I know what he knows and I know how he thinks about defenses.”
The 51-year-old Kiffin has dominated headlines this offseason, beginning with his controversial exit after six years at Ole Miss to take the head coach opening at LSU in late November. Kiffin now enters a pivotal Year 1 in Baton Rouge, where national championships are the expectation.
Kiffin is a combined 81-32 over the past nine seasons at FAU and Ole Miss. That includes six seasons with double-digit victories, including three straight to end his six-year tenure in Oxford.
Now, Kiffin is looking to bring that same level of consistency — as well as his patented “juice” — to an LSU program desperate for a return to national prominence after five years out of the College Football Playoff picture.
