BATON ROUGE, La. \u2014 Lane Kiffin called his past six years at Ole Miss \u201cthe best six years\u201d of his life, and then tried to explain why he felt compelled to leave Oxford, Mississippi, behind and take over an LSU football program that he\u2019s always admired from afar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHaving watched this place for a long time, having been on the other sideline in this stadium, this place is different, and that\u2019s why we\u2019re here,\u201d Kiffin said. \u201cLSU is the best job in football. When you take the history, tradition, passion and the great players in the state of Louisiana … when you\u2019re in Tiger Stadium on Saturday night, there is nothing like it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiffin was flown in on a private plane on Sunday night with LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Monday afternoon, he was standing on a podium before a festive crowd of LSU dignitaries in a premium club lounge with a panoramic view of Tiger Stadium, where massive video boards were lit up with his name and likeness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI felt like everybody that I talked to outside of the state that I was in (Mississippi) all basically said the same thing,\u201d Kiffin said, acknowledging that he also had received a \u201cunique, great call\u201d from Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry during LSU\u2019s courtship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey all said, \u2018Man, you are going to regret it if you don\u2019t take a shot and you don\u2019t go to LSU. It\u2019s the best job in America with the best resources,\u2019\u201d Kiffin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ausberry said Kiffin\u2019s name was the first on everyone\u2019s lips when LSU\u2019s search committed first met to discuss candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiffin, meanwhile, said he liked the fact that Ausberry told him: \u201cI\u2019m going to leave you alone and let you coach the team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiffin now has a seven-year contract paying him about $13 million annually, making him, for the time being, the second-highest-paid coach in college football. Kiffin said he received similar offers from Ole Miss and Florida, but that LSU\u2019s plan for raising money for paying players impressed him the most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just three days earlier, Kiffin was walking off a football field with triumphant Ole Miss players after an Egg Bowl victory at Mississippi State that secured the first 11-win regular season in Rebels history. Kiffin wanted to continue coaching the Rebels in the College Football Playoff, and made his case to do so during more than a day of protracted negotiations with Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiffin said that while he felt most people across the country agreed that he should be able to coach in the postseason, he also respected Carter\u2019s stance, because Carter would still have to live in Oxford when the season was done. Even after Kiffin had moved on to the Rebels\u2019 historical rivals in neighboring Louisiana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiffin said he was torn, and that making his decision to leave Ole Miss was excruciating and extremely difficult. He said he felt grateful to the people of Oxford, as well as his Rebels players and assistant coaches, for both his coaching success and quality of life he enjoyed while he was there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was amazing,\u201d Kiffin said. \u201cIt will forever be a major part of my story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiffin also recounted his unsettling drive to the Oxford airport with his son, Knox, on Sunday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople trying to run us off the road, man, and the things they said to us,\u201d Kiffin said. \u201cBut that\u2019s the SEC. I\u2019ve been around it long enough to know that, and it\u2019s just the passion of the SEC. I\u2019m not upset at those reactions by fans, by people. I think that people get really upset when you leave somewhere because they feel hurt because you\u2019re doing a really good job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiffin said his past 48 hours had been very challenging, and \u201cin a lot of ways sucked. It\u2019s the only way I can describe it. It sucked for a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also couldn\u2019t help but think, when he was greeted by jubilant fans outside the airport in Baton Rouge, that he hadn\u2019t \u201cdone anything yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiffin, 50, is starting his sixth head coaching job. He\u2019s been fired from a couple. He was criticized \u2014 and also said he regretted \u2014 not spending more than one year at Tennessee before seizing a chance to coach Southern California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But he appreciated the enthusiasm for his arrival, and when he rode past Tiger Stadium, all lit up on Sunday night, he called his old friend and former LSU coach Ed Orgeron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He recounted with a grin that he told Orgeron, \u201cThis place just makes me want to talk like you right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then Kiffin mimicked himself a night earlier, summoning a low, raspy voice and a Cajun accent, like Orgeron, as he shouted: \u201cGo Tigers!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiffin said Orgeron told him, \u201cCoach, you\u2019re at the best place in America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Kiffin responded, \u201cI feel that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n