Lane Kiffin notes Pete Carroll's influence on decision to take job at LSU: 'Your dad would tell you to go, man'

A lot clearly went into the decision for Lane Kiffin to leave Ole Miss for LSU. That included advice from several key figures from his coaching career, like Pete Carroll.

In an interview with ESPN’s Marty Smith before flying away from Oxford and to Baton Rouge, Kiffin answered what made it the right choice to him to become the next head coach of the Tigers. He said the influence of mentors was among the keys to this decision, namely that of Nick Saban as well as that of Carroll who told him that this is what Monte Kiffin, who passed away back in July, would want for Lane.

My interview with @Lane_Kiffin prior to his departure from Oxford to Baton Rouge.

•Why he chose LSU over Ole Miss
•Why he wasn’t in Sunday’s Ole Miss team meeting
•His response to not coaching Ole Miss in the playoff
•Why this took so long
•Peter Carroll’s important msg pic.twitter.com/GfBkE7fnHU

— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) December 1, 2025

“Yeah, just, you know, there was something. I mean, this was really hard,” said Kiffin. “My heart was here, but I just -you know, I talked to some mentors: Coach Carroll, Coach Saban, you know. And especially when Coach Carroll said, ‘Your dad would tell you to go, man. Take the shot, you know. Take the shot. You’ve accomplished a lot here.'”

Carroll has a long-time history with the Kiffins. He worked with Monte Kiffin in the NFL from 1986 to 1990 on defensive staffs for four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and one with the New York Jets. He then had Lane Kiffin as an assistant on his staff for six seasons from 2001 to 2006, with the last two of those with him being his offensive coordinator, at USC. Lane Kiffin then succeeded Carroll, who left to become the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, at Southern Cal, which caused one of his bigger controversies in leaving Tennessee in 2010.

Beyond that, Kiffin said more obviously went into his decision to leave The ‘Sip. It was something he said he thought and prayed a lot about, with him eventually coming to the conclusion that he felt a sense of accomplishment for what they achieved during his tenure at Ole Miss and now with a new challenge ahead of him at LSU.

“I always felt, I always hated how we only gave one year to Tennessee and left. I really hated that feeling of that, you know, even though it was an exciting year. But, you know, I think that we gave a lot to this program and to this city, and, you know, some of the most historic wins in this stadium that they’ve ever had, and best regular season in the history of this school. So, I feel proud of that part,” said Kiffin. “But, it just became time, you know. I talked to God, and he told me it’s time to take a new step. It’s a new chapter.”

We’ll know more about this long thought process for Kiffin once he officially arrives at LSU. Those in his life, though, certainly had a say in how this all ended by Sunday.