Lane Kiffin
The numbers
$13,000,000
annualized
Sum of printed components; the contract does not print a single total.
USA TODAY reports $9.00M (FY2025), measured at Ole Miss Rebels, the job he held that year.
What the document says
“Total Annual Compensation; • Base Salary (annualized): $400,000 • Supplemental Compensation (annualized): $12,600,000”Total Annual Compensation · Louisiana State University - Coach/Staff Contract - 2025 · Page 1
80% of remaining Base Salary + Supplemental Compensation
full term
The document states a formula, not a dollar figure.
USA TODAY reports a buyout of $36.60M (FY2025) for his Ole Miss Rebels contract — a single figure as of that year rather than the formula this contract carries.
What the document says
“If LSU terminates the employment of Coach without cause, LSU will pay liquidated damages equal to 80% of the remaining Base Salary and Supplemental Compensation which would have been payable to Coach over the otherwise unexpired Term, in equal monthly installments over the remaining Term. Coach shall have no obligation to mitigate the liquidated damages and LSU shall have no right to offset the amount due to Coach by any compensation Coach receives during the otherwise unexpired Term.”Termination Without Cause by University · Louisiana State University - Coach/Staff Contract - 2025 · Page 1
Through December 31, 2032
full term
Running from November 30, 2025.
What the document says
“From November 30, 2025 ("Effective Date") to December 31, 2032 ("Term")”Term · Louisiana State University - Coach/Staff Contract - 2025 · Page 1
Figures on these cards are read off the cited document at the cited page. USA TODAY's row is reported alongside as a cross-check, not merged into them: a contract states scheduled pay for a contract year, USA TODAY reports one fiscal year of pay to whoever held the job, and the two are expected to differ. USA TODAY also lists a maximum bonus of $2.60M. Source ↗
The fine print
65 hours of private flying a year for personal use, and unused hours roll forward.
“Coach will be provided up to 65 in-flight hours of private air transportation for personal use each Contract Year, with unused hours rolled over to the next Contract Year”Louisiana State University - Coach/Staff Contract - 2025 · Page 2View the document →
Recruiting/program private air and family travel were still being negotiated when the term sheet was signed.
“The parties agree to continue good faith negotiations for the following provided additional benefits: ... Family and guest travel ... Private air transportation or first-class air travel (if private air transportation is unavailable) for recruiting/program-related activities”Louisiana State University - Coach/Staff Contract - 2025 · Page 2View the document →
Win the national title and his pay automatically resets above every other FBS head coach's.
“the Total Annual Compensation for the remainder of the Term will be increased such that Coach's Total Annual Compensation will exceed the highest salary of any active NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision head coach.”Louisiana State University - Coach/Staff Contract - 2025 · Page 1View the document →
Fired without cause, LSU owes 80% of what was left — with no duty to mitigate and no offset if he takes another job.
“If LSU terminates the employment of Coach without cause, LSU will pay liquidated damages equal to 80% of the remaining Base Salary and Supplemental Compensation which would have been payable to Coach over the otherwise unexpired Term, in equal monthly installments over the remaining Term. Coach shall have no obligation to mitigate the liquidated damages and LSU shall have no right to offset the amount due to Coach by any compensation Coach receives during the otherwise unexpired Term.”Louisiana State University - Coach/Staff Contract - 2025 · Page 1View the document →
If he leaves for another head-coaching job, he owes LSU on a declining schedule: $7M through 2026, down to $1.5M in 2031.
“From the Effective Date to and including December 31, 2026: $7,000,000; From January 1, 2027 to and including December 31, 2027: $6,000,000; From January 1, 2028 to and including December 31, 2028: $5,000,000; From January 1, 2029 to and including December 31, 2029: $3,000,000; From January 1, 2030 to and including December 31, 2030: $2,000,000; From January 1, 2031 to and including December 31, 2031: $1,500,000”Louisiana State University - Coach/Staff Contract - 2025 · Page 2View the document →
His buyout is cut in half if Verge Ausberry is no longer the athletic director when he goes.
“The amount payable under this section will be reduced by 50% if the current Athletics Director (Verge Ausberry) is not serving as Athletics Director at the time of Coach's termination.”Louisiana State University - Coach/Staff Contract - 2025 · Page 2View the document →
LSU agreed to pay him the playoff bonuses he would have earned at Ole Miss had he stayed through the 2025-26 CFP.
“Coach will be entitled to receive a payment in an amount equal to the amount Coach would have been entitled to receive had he remained Head Coach at Coach's immediate prior employer and coached the prior employer's football team through the 2025-26 CFP”Louisiana State University - Coach/Staff Contract - 2025 · Page 3View the document →
Foundation money covers up to $500,000 of any loss on the sale of his Oxford house.
“The obligation under this section shall not exceed $500,000 as a result of such sale transaction. The payment under this section shall be payable within 30 days following the verified closing on the residence. No payment will be due if the sales price for the residence exceeds the initial purchase price referenced above.”Louisiana State University - Coach/Staff Contract - 2025 · Page 4View the document →
Every clause here is quoted from the document it cites. A clause that cannot be re-checked against the scan is not published.
Read the contract
The flights
Contract grants 65 personal flight hours a year → Published reporting on LSU Tigers aircraft during this tenure:
A jet clause is eligibility; a tracked flight is evidence; the join is presented as contract-next-to-reporting, never as proof the coach was aboard.
How this page is sourced
Where a contract for this coach is in the corpus, the headline figures are read off that document at the page each card cites, and USA TODAY's figure runs alongside as a cross-check. Where no contract is held, the figures are school-reported contract terms from USA TODAY's coaches salary database for the most recent fiscal year on file. Neither is W-2 compensation, and neither is comparable to Form 990 totals for private schools.
Clause text is transcribed verbatim from the cited document at the cited page. Where a term is attributed to published reporting rather than a document we hold, the card says so explicitly.
Flight reports linked here are attributed to the program and the date, not to a passenger. Nothing on this page claims a coach exercised a clause or was aboard an aircraft.