Lane Kiffin and LSU Football Dragged Into Clickbait CSC Report, Says Analyst

Lane Kiffin‘s first year at LSU was hit with controversy when The Athletic reported about an investigation into the Tigers program by the College Sports Commission (CSC). While initial reports caused speculation about the football program, LSU officials clarified that the investigation was unrelated to the football program or Kiffin. 

“The Athletic released a report that LSU was under investigation by the CSC,” Louisiana Sports’ Matt Moscona said on Monday. “The first thought is, oh my god, LSU just bought this incredible transfer portal class. They must have broken rules. The tweet from the Athletic had a picture of an LSU football helmet. This is clickbait engagement farming at its worst. It has nothing to do with football. 

“So posting a picture of a football helmet and including Lane Kiffin, Damon Williams references in the piece by the Athletic, absolute bush league. If you saw that on Friday over the weekend and you’re concerned about it, from an LSU perspective, don’t be. It doesn’t involve football and apparently it’s just a giant nothing burger.”

The CSC is a newly formed regulatory body that launched in mid-2025 to oversee the revenue-sharing system and ensure NIL compliance. The reported inquiry into LSU was the first public investigation initiated by the commission. The inquiry focused on “non-reporting” of third-party NIL deals, as all third-party NIL deals exceeding $600 must be reported to the NIL Go clearinghouse for verification.

LSU also released a statement on Monday, confirming the matter was closed.

“The CSC inquiry into non-reporting has been resolved with no disciplinary action, and any deals that require submission to

NIL Go have been submitted. We appreciate the CSC’s prompt review and resolution.”

LSU finished the 2025 season with a 7-6 record, including a 3-5 mark in the Southeastern Conference.

CFB Analyst Praises Lane Kiffin’s LSU Staff Building 

While some head coaches totally overhaul coaching after joining a new program, Kiffin retained key members of the defensive staff and front office from Brian Kelly’s tenure. 

Kiffin decided to retain key defensive staff to maintain continuity, as he retained defensive coordinator Blake Baker and cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond. His approach of keeping key staff from Kelly’s tenure earned him praise from Louisiana Sports’ Matt Moscona.

“When Brian Kelly came in, his first inclination was there’s all this bad clean house, and they turned over like 30 staff members,” Moscona said. “What Lane Kiffin did in coming in, I think is very smart, is he talked to enough people who know the inner workings of how to win here and identified who are the guys they needed to retain. 

“It would have been so easy for Lane to come in and uproot everything, bring in his people and just say, ‘this is how we’re going to do it.’ But I think he’s done a really, really good job of identifying the key staffers that they wanted to retain and finding a way to blend the staff as best that they can.”

Kiffin also retained LSU Director of Football Operations Jon Randall Belton and promoted him to Assistant General Manager two days ago. Besides this, he hired several key Ole Miss staff members for his new staff at LSU, including offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., tight ends coach Joe Cox, running backs coach Kevin Smith, and wide receivers coach George McDonald.