Lane Kiffin is widely known as the Transfer Portal King as he was the first head coach to truly embrace and perfect the model that most teams use, turning a roster over year after year. This offseason, Lane Kiffin got to use his transfer model to the fullest extent as he took over at the helm of LSU.
Taking over at LSU, Lane Kiffin brought in a stunning 41 transfers, the 6th most among any program despite the fact that the roster already had some promising pieces. While the focus in the offseason was the pieces that LSU added, looking back on the chaos of the Winter, LSU should be counting their lucky stars for some of their big misses.
Lane Kiffin avoided major messes with Brendan Sorsby and Chaz Coleman
LSU heads into the 2026-27 season with a stellar starting quarterback in Sam Leavitt who transfers in from Arizona State. During his time with the Sun Devils, Leavitt led the team to the College Football Playoff, but dealt with injury this past season. While Sam Leavitt arrived at LSU with injury concerns, the issues could be far worse for the Tigers.
Prior to LSU landing Sam Leavitt, the Tigers looked to be in a head to head battle with Texas Tech over transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby. When the top transfer QB picked the Red Raiders, it sent LSU scrambling, and exploring plenty of options, but adding Sam Leavitt.
While LSU fans will hold their breath as they hope Sam Leavitt will be a full go when Summer camp begins, the issues could be much worse. Brendan Sorsby was denied his request for reinstatement earlier this week, and it seems more likely that he won't play at all for Texas Tech amid the NCAA's investigation into bets he made, including on his own team while with Indiana.
Sources: The NCAA has denied Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s request for reinstatement for eligibility for the 2026 season. Sorsby has completed his 35-day in-patient rehab for his gambling addiction at Algamus in Goodyear, Arizona. pic.twitter.com/Ts1p3juEI9
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) May 26, 2026
One of Lane Kiffin's other big targets in the Transfer Portal was Penn State edge rusher Chaz Coleman. Originally, everyone expected Coleman to land at Ohio State, but LSU and Tennessee eventually entered the race. In the end, Chaz Coleman picked Tennessee, and LSU ended up with former Tennessee edge rusher Jordan Ross, along with Ole Miss star Princewill Umanmielen.
Missing out on Chaz Coleman appears to be another major bullet dodged for Lane Kiffin and the Tigers. Coleman missed most of Spring practices, and now he's yet to report to the Volunteers' summer workouts for undisclosed reasons as rumors continue to swirl.
Chaz Coleman, a 5-star Penn State transfer, has not reported to Tennessee summer workouts.
— Adam Sparks (@AdamSparks) May 27, 2026
His status has been a source of concern since missing most of spring practice.https://t.co/9sIHJ8SwwT
For all the drama that surrounds Lane Kiffin with his various departures, it's a major win that he avoided two of the biggest disasters in the Transfer Portal era. Considering how many players the Tigers added this offseason, the fact that this issue didn't happen to LSU is shocking. Both Coleman and Sorbsy came with massive price tags, and adding both in one class could've been a major setback.
Lane Kiffin will be tasked with getting all his transfers to gel this offseason, but it's hard not to look back and consider the class a win for the Tigers. Coleman and Sorsby very well could end up living up to the hype, but the Tigers didn't need to have a major distraction like this in such a major offseason with the coaching change.
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