Lane Kiffin discusses approach to transfer portal after LSU signs No. 1 class: 'There's a good and bad to it'

Lane Kiffin is not apologizing for signing college football's top-ranked transfer portal class for the 2026 recruiting cycle, a product he says was created by LSU's elite program-wide alignment and resources that were strong enough to land many of the nation's top players.

The Tigers acquired three of the top five overall players in the portal, showing a level of aggressive spending and exhaustive recruiting efforts that few other programs managed to do this cycle. LSU landed No. 1 quarterback Sam Leavitt (Arizona State), No. 1 offensive tackle Jordan Seaton (Colorado) and No. 1 edge rusher Princewill Umanmielen (Ole Miss) as part of a 40-player transfer haul.

LSU won head-to-head battles against other elite programs for several immediate-impact talents.

"I don't know. I just know how I do things," Kiffin said Wednesday on his incessant mentality when it comes to portal recruiting when top-rated players enter. "There's a good and bad to it. I'm extremely competitive and I don't really do well with no. So that just makes me more competitive when someone says no. So sometimes that happens in recruiting. They say no. But I think that's my job. That's my job to LSU.

"[People] ask about the social media and why I do it ... everything I do is for the place of where I coach at, that school and those fans. That makes me not very liked a lot of times by other ones."

Kiffin worked overtime to sign Leavitt, who had visits to Miami, Tennessee and Kentucky before taking in Baton Rouge. During that visit to LSU, news broke that Washington quarterback Demond Williams was entering the portal and Leavitt left his visit without a commitment.

Kiffin later chased Leavitt down inside Knoxville Airport before garnering his commitment.

"I'm hired here to go sign the best players, regardless of whether that means I've got to go get on another plane or find a plane and show up somewhere, walk through Knoxville Airport to find the guy," Kiffin said. "That's just kind of how I work and I like that because I think that wires in with Louisiana people, because I think that's how they think. 

"No job is too small. Find a way to go get it done. I think it's a good match."

Kififn credited the "power" of LSU for being a primary factor on early recruiting success with the Tigers in December before his full coaching staff had arrived at the program. Kiffin took general manager Billy Glasscock and senior director of player personnel Mike Williams to LSU, two of his closest staffers instrumental in landing this class.

In addition to his star-studded portal haul, Kiffin signed two Louisiana native five-stars -- defensive lineman Richard Anderson and wide receiver Lamar Brown -- to anchor an impressive freshman class. They were both committed before December's coaching staff change and decided to stick around after speaking with Kiffin during his first 72 hours on the job.

"I get some credit for that, when people are like, 'Lane Kiffin signed the No. 1 player in the country,' OK, LSU signed him," Kiffin said. "I don't know of any other school, we don't even have a defensive line coach at the time and they still sign with LSU. That's not because of Lane Kiffin or Frank Wilson, that's the power of a place that they would decide to sign instead of waiting and see everything involved ... because they both knew it was LSU."