Kiffin's the circus, not the show
History suggests a head coach's success is directly tied to the quality of his coordinators.
The circus act that is Lane Kiffin rolled into Baton Rouge with everyone clear that LSU was betting serious dollars on his program-building success and offensive savant reputation offsetting the controversy and "controlled chaos." Two dominant wins into the Lane Train experience, the chaos is eye candy. The discipline underneath it—and his quality coordinator hires—are the secret to his success.
Why it matters: Kiffin sucks all the oxygen from the room, but behind the scenes, his two top-shelf coordinators are orchestrating a symphony of high-level performance and execution.
The receipts: No doubt, a $50 million player roster helps, but Kiffin's biggest recruiting coups were getting his long-time offensive coordinator to turn down the NFL and LSU's defensive coordinator from a year ago to agree to stay.
- Defensive coordinator Blake Baker turned down a head coaching job at his alma mater, Tulane, to sign a $9.3 million—the richest assistant contract in college football.
- Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., after a few NFL overtures, got a raise clause guaranteeing he stays the SEC's highest-paid coordinator, no matter what any rival program offers him.
- Weis has now followed Kiffin to four programs since 2015, calling plays for him at three of them. His presence enables Kiffin to be, well, Kiffin, and the offense to not lose a beat.
- Baker and his staff have LSU ranked No. 1 in total defense through two games.
Staff matters: The media and fans love to hype the coach at the top, but the evidence makes it clear that a program's success is most often dictated by the quality of the top lieutenants.
- Oregon, the high-flying power of the Northwest, is learning this reality the hard way. Dan Lanning lost both of his coordinators during the off-season, and the impact is evident on the field. The Ducks, the preseason No. 2, are a shaky 1-1 and have descended to No. 21 after losing outright as 23.5-point favorites at Oklahoma State.
- Closer to home, LSU's Ed Orgeron, with perhaps the best college football team ever assembled, won a national title in 2019, then lost passing game coordinator Joe Brady to the NFL and defensive coordinator Dave Aranda to Baylor's head job within months. The bleeding continued for two more seasons until Orgeron was fired in 2021.
The GOAT exception: Nick Saban seemingly lost coordinators every year at Alabama as if it were part of the business model, and the wins never stopped. There's a reason why he's the best there ever was at the college football coaching game.
The bottom line: Whether it's a football program, a hospital system or a city-parish government, the person at the top is only as good as the people they hire—unless you're Nick Saban.