LSU Is Paying $162 Million To Three Coaches

The LSU Tigers wrapped up their tumultuous regular season with quite the splash. They'll end up in a bowl game, but with a 7-5 mark overall, they're nowhere near contending for the College Football Playoff. There's excitement in the air, however, as the school signed head coach Lane Kiffin away from the Ole Miss Rebels, a fellow SEC program.

Of course, signing Kiffin came at quite the cost. The Tigers' deal is worth $91 million over seven years. It also includes escalators for reaching certain milestones and an annual $25 to $30 million budget for recruiting and to use on name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals for players.

Additionally, Kiffin has an enormous buyout worth 80% of his remaining salary. You'd think LSU would have learned its lesson from its last couple of coaching contracts. Let's see how those turned out.

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On top of Kiffin's deal, the Tigers are currently mired in a lawsuit with former head coach Brian Kelly. The two parted ways on Oct. 26, eight games into Kelly's fourth season as coach. Kelly is suing to get the full monetary value of his buyout, which is $54 million.

That's already a hefty sum of change, but LSU owes a third coach money, too. LSU mutually parted ways with Ed Orgeron after the 2021 season. With a team quarterbacked by future No. 1 NFL draft pick Joe Burrow, Orgeron led the Tigers to a championship in 2019.

As part of the decision to go their separate paths, the Tigers gave Orgeron a buyout worth $16.9 million. The final of those installments will be paid out this season.

If you're doing the math at home, that's a collective $162 million on the books for Kiffin, Kelly, and Orgeron. That number could drop if the school is able to negotiate a settlement with Kelly. It could also get even higher if Kiffin leads the Tigers to an SEC title or national championship.

Coaching buyouts have become the norm in college football. And LSU is truly pioneering just how much a school can potentially owe multiple people at once.