Lane Kiffin fumbling things with beloved LSU coach might cost him 5-star commits

Lane Kiffin has brought a rejuvenated excitement to the LSU Football program. He's already flipped three Ole Miss commits to LSU, and more could be on the way. But that doesn't mean everything has been going as planned for Kiffin's first few days on the job.

Lane Kiffin continues to spite Ole Miss with another LSU commit

On Tuesday, it was reported that 5-star commit Lamar Brown - LSU's most coveted recruit and the No. 1 prospect in the country - won't be signing with LSU on Wednesday. Brown's agent told Rivals' Sam Spiegelman that Brown is still "committed" to LSU, but for now it seems that his future could be up in the air.

That appears to be the case for 5-star commit Richard Anderson as well. Like Brown, Anderson doesn't plan to put pen to paper for LSU just yet, which has Tiger fans sweating.

Frank Wilson plays a major role in signing Lamar Brown and Richard Anderson

Associate head coach and running backs coach Frank Wilson took over on an interim basis when Brian Kelly was fired back on October 26. Wilson is a Louisiana icon and has spent his entire life engrained in Bayou State football. He is a skilled recruiter, and plays a massive role in bringing in top in-state talent to LSU. He was the lead recruiter for both Brown and Anderson, and it could be in Kiffin's best interest to keep Wilson on staff for 2026.

Matt Moscona of ESPN 104.5 says that Wilson could be the difference in officially signing both Brown and Anderson.

Anderson has a great relationship with Wilson, and as Moscona reports, has essentially said that if Wilson is at LSU then he will be Baton Rouge bound. However, if Wilson is elsewhere, that could have a negative impact on Anderson's decision to come to LSU. At this point, it seems extremely beneficial for Kiffin to retain Wilson on his staff moving forward.

Moscona then reflects back on the mistakes that Brian Kelly made early on in his tenure at LSU. Kelly chose not to retain several coaches who had strong Louisiana ties, such as Corey Raymond. Over his 3.5 seasons in Baton Rouge, Kelly came to realize just how valuable those types of coaches are. He eventually brought Raymond back and filled out his coaching staff with coaches who have strong ties to the state. But it was too little too late. Moscona hopes Kiffin doesn't make the same mistake.

With the Early Signing Period open only until Friday, that means that both Anderson and Brown will have to wait until February to ink with their program of choice if they do end up delaying things further.

LSU currently has the No. 12 recruiting class in the country according to 247Sports, and that ranking would surely drop without the pair of 5-stars. Kiffin has signed other recruits and is great at recruiting from the transfer portal, but missing out on Brown and Anderson would be a colossal loss for Kiffin and the Tigers.