In Nov. 2021, coach Brian Kelly and LSU both found themselves at a crossroads. Kelly believed Notre Dame’s off-field standards had given the Fighting Irish a ceiling, and the Tigers were starting over after canning 2019 national championship-winning coach Ed Orgeron. Their fly-by-night marriage bore fruit early, with LSU playing for a surprise SEC title in 2022. However, the Tigers couldn’t win big games in ’23, declined to 9–4 in ’24 and fired Kelly after a 5–3 start in 2025. On Wednesday, Kelly—currently unemployed—sat down virtually with John Brice and Blake Toppmeyer of USA Today . During that conversation, he offered interesting thoughts on his LSU successor—well-traveled former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin. Kelly thinks Kiffin can do what he could not—lead LSU to a national championship LSU hired Lane Kiffin away from Ole Miss after in the midst of the Rebels’ run to the College Football Playoff.…