Walk through the North Gates of LSU’s campus this weekend and you’ll notice something weird. It’s quiet. Too quiet. For a program that usually vibrates with the bass of "Neck" and the smell of bourbon-soaked charcoal, the mid-January silence feels almost heavy.
There is no game.
No pads popping on the practice field. No Mike the Tiger pacing his enclosure while 100,000 fans scream for a first down. But if you think LSU football this weekend is taking a nap, you haven’t been paying attention to the frantic, high-stakes arms race happening inside the Murphy J. Foster Hall.
Lane Kiffin is currently doing what Lane Kiffin does best. He's shopping. And honestly? He’s buying the whole store.
The Transfer Portal Is the New Gameday
While the rest of the SEC might be focusing on the NFL playoffs or nursing bowl game hangovers, Kiffin and his staff are treating this weekend like a four-quarter battle. The transfer portal window just slammed shut on January 16, but the dust is nowhere near settled.
LSU is sitting on the No. 1 transfer class in the country. Let that sink in.
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They aren't just taking leftovers. They're pillaging rosters. You’ve got Sam Leavitt coming in from Arizona State, a kid who many scouts think is the most natural thrower of the football in the portal right now. Then there’s Eugene "Tre" Wilson from Florida. If he stays healthy, he’s a human highlight reel.
It’s a different kind of intensity. Instead of calling plays, Kiffin is calling parents and agents. The goal? Fix a roster that looked—let's be real—a little thin during that 7-6 campaign under the previous regime.
What Most People Get Wrong About the "Offseason"
A lot of fans think the "offseason" means the players are just hitting the weight room and going to class.
Wrong.
This weekend is about integration. For the 30-plus new faces joining the program, this is the first real taste of the "LSU Way." It’s about meeting with strength coach Jake Flint. It’s about learning the nomenclature of Blake Baker’s defense.
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Baker is arguably the most important "player" on the field right now. After the defensive disasters of the last few years, the Tigers are desperate for a pulse on that side of the ball. This weekend, Baker is reportedly hunkered down with his new staff, including guys like Corey Raymond and Bo Davis, basically rewriting the playbook to fit the specific athletic profiles of the portal additions like safety Ty Benefield and linebacker TJ Dottery.
The 2026 Schedule Looming Large
You can't talk about LSU football this weekend without looking at the monster that is the 2026 schedule. The SEC officially dropped the dates, and it is a gauntlet.
September 5. Clemson. In Death Valley.
That is how the Kiffin era officially kicks off. No "cupcake" openers. No warm-up laps. Just a straight-up heavyweight fight against a Clemson team that still remembers being embarrassed by LSU in the 2019 Natty.
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- Texas A&M: September 26.
- Alabama: November 7.
- Texas: November 14.
That November stretch? It’s basically a playoff bracket played out in Baton Rouge. If Kiffin doesn't get this portal class right this weekend, those three Saturdays in November could be very, very long.
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The Recruiting Trail Never Stops
Even while the portal is the headline, the high school trail is burning up. This week, we saw LSU coaches hitting the road hard across Louisiana. Joe Cox was spotted in Ruston, likely checking in on Ahmad Hudson. George McDonald was in New Orleans.
The strategy is clear: Use the portal to fix the "now," but don't lose the "forever" talent in the 504 and 318.
Louisiana has more NFL players per capita than anywhere else. Kiffin knows this. He’s leaning on guys like Frank Wilson—who coached the Texas Bowl as the interim before Kiffin took over—to make sure the fence around the state stays high and electrified.
Actionable Insights for the LSU Faithful
If you're looking to stay ahead of the curve while the team is "off," here is what you actually need to watch:
- Monitor the Enrollee List: Keep an eye on which portal commits actually show up for spring classes this week. A commitment is just a tweet; an enrollment is a contract.
- The Quarterback Room: With Sam Leavitt, Husan Longstreet, and Landen Clark all in the mix, the battle for QB1 starts in the film room this Sunday. There's no clear favorite yet, and Kiffin loves a good competition.
- Defensive Line Depth: Watch for any late additions on the interior. Stephiylan Green is a great start, but they still need more "beef" to handle the Texas and Alabama front porches.
The silence in Baton Rouge is a lie. This program is moving at 100 miles per hour. While there are no touchdowns being scored this weekend, the roster being built right now is the only reason those touchdowns will happen in September.
Stay tuned to the roster trackers. The Kiffin era isn't coming—it's already here, and it's being built one plane ticket at a time.