LSU head coach Lane Kiffin has added 11 new coaches to his football staff in Baton Rouge, including plenty of familiar faces from Ole Miss.

In total, a blend of on-field coaches and analysts hired by Kiffin include seven new additions on offense, three additions to LSU’s returning staff on defense, and a new special teams coordinator.

Of the aforementioned 11 coaches, eight followed Kiffin from Oxford after coaching for the Rebels.

Less than a month into Kiffin’s tenure as LSU head coach, the on-field staff is complete – and new analyst additions add to what the coaching staff will look like next fall during his first season with the Tigers.

Here’s the rundown on the on-field coaches – and analysts added to Kiffin’s first staff – as LSU prepares for the NCAA Transfer Portal’s 14-day window set to begin on Jan. 2, 2026.

The Ole Miss staffers added to LSU’s staff on offense, which included each on-field coach under Kiffin sans the team’s offensive line coach, will continue to coach the Rebels through the CFB Playoff.

Ole Miss beat Tulane in the opening round of the playoffs, and a quarterfinals matchup with Georgia in the Sugar Bowl is set for New Year’s Day at 7 p.m. CT.

The Coaches: LSU Offense

(Note: All of the following coaches on offense are new additions to LSU’s staff)

Charlie Weiss Jr. – Offensive Coordinator

Joe Cox – Tight Ends Coach/Co-Offensive Coordinator

Kevin Smith – Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs

Eric Wolford – Offensive Line Coach

Dane Stevens – Quarterbacks Coach

George McDonald – Passing Game Coordinator 

Sawyer Jordan – Inside Wide Receivers Coach

The Coaches: LSU Defense

(Note: The on-field hire to replace Kyle Williams resulted in LSU landing South Carolina assistant Sterling Lucas as the school’s new defensive line coach. Kiffin also added Chris Kiffin to the linebackers room as a new coach for the Tigers, while Lou Spanos will step into a role assisting on the defensive line, with a likely emphasis on his background as a pass rush specialist).

Blake Baker – Defensive Coordinator

Kevin Peoples – Defensive Ends/EDGE Coach

Lou Spanos – Defensive Line Assistant/Pass Rush Specialist

Sterling Lucas – Defensive Line

Chris Kiffin – Linebackers Coach

Corey Raymond – Secondary Coach

Jake Olsen – Safeties Coach

The Coaches: Special Teams

(Note: Houston was previously Florida’s special teams coordinator prior to being hired at LSU)

Joe Houston – Special Teams Coordinator

The Rundown: New hires join familiar faces on LSU defense

(Editor’s note: The following is the press release from LSU confirming the new hires)

LSU has officially added 11 new coaches to its football staff, head coach Lane Kiffin announced on Monday.

The staff additions include seven on the offensive side of the ball, three defensive coaches along with a special teams coordinator. Eight of the 11 additions to Tiger coaching staff followed Kiffin from Ole Miss to LSU. In addition, all 11 of the coaches come to LSU with SEC experience and eight have NFL experience, either as a player or coach or both.

Charlie Weis Jr. will serve as LSU’s offensive coordinator, while Joe Houston has been tabbed as the special teams coordinator.

Joining Weis on the offensive side of the ball will be Kevin Smith (assistant head coach/running backs), Joe Cox (tight ends/co-offensive coordinator), George McDonald (wide receivers/passing game coordinator), Eric Wolford (offensive line), Sawyer Jordan (inside wide receivers) and Dane Stevens (quarterbacks).

Weis, McDonald, Smith, Cox, Stevens, and Jordan all served on the Ole Miss staff with Kiffin and were part of the best regular-season in program history in 2025 as the Rebels posted an 11-1 mark and advanced to the College Football Playoffs.

In 2025, the Ole Miss offense averaged nearly 38 points per game and led the SEC in yards per game (498.0), passing yards per game (312.4) and rushing touchdowns (36). Ole Miss has scored 59 total offensive touchdowns this season, which ranks second in the league.

The Ole Miss offense featured SEC Newcomer of the Year in quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and All-America running back Kewan Lacy, who has rushed for 1,366 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Wolford previously coached the offensive line at Kentucky, while Stevens was the offensive coordinator at West Georgia in 2024 before returning to Ole Miss in 2025 as the passing game specialists. He served as senior analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach for Kiffin and the Rebels in 2022-23.

On defense, LSU has added Sterling Lucas (defensive line), Chris Kiffin (linebackers/co-defensive coordinator) and Lou Spanos (assistant defensive line/pass rush specialist).

Lucas joins the program after four seasons as the defensive ends and outside linebackers coach at South Carolina. Spanos and Kiffin both joined the LSU staff from Ole Miss. Chris Kiffin coached the Ole Miss linebackers in 2025 after spending the five previous years in the NFL. Spanos most recently served as a defensive analyst for the Rebels and comes to LSU with 17 years of NFL experience.

In 2024, Lucas oversaw the development of Kyle Kennard, who won the Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation’s top defensive player.

Houston coached at Florida for the past two seasons, including the 2025 season when he served as the special teams coordinator for the Gators. Other stops during his coaching career include one season under Nick Saban at Alabama, three years as a special teams coach at the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick.