If/when the Alabama Crimson Tide's 2026 season sputters out because the offensive trenches lack leadership and experience together, and because the quarterback position is unsettled and may rely on a redshirt freshman, Kalen DeBoer may/will be fired.
And if/when that happens, Lane Kiffin could leave the LSU Tigers and join the one school he's claimed in the past he'd leave the Ole Miss Rebels for, before he actually left the University of Mississippi for a school that hasn't made the CFP in the NIL/rev-share era.
That's the line of thinking The Athletic's Stewart Mandel shared during a recent mailbag, anyway. Mandel further predicted that DeBoer could be Clemson Tigers' head coach Dabo Swinney's replacement in Upstate South Carolina.
"Lane Kiffin leaves LSU after nine games for Alabama, which fires Kalen DeBoer after eight games. DeBoer then goes to Clemson to take over for Dabo Swinney after he gets too distraught over tampering to continue," Mandel wrote, via RoundtableSports.
Mandel didn't report this as a reality, and it was almost certainly written with a hint of sensationalism. If anything, it's a play on how unpredictable Kiffin has been throughout his career. If he can leave Ole Miss in the middle of a CFP run, why not leave LSU in the middle of the season.
LSU is about to be on edge about Lane Kiffin until he does eventually leave for Alabama
The Tigers are about to feel the anxiety that the Rebels felt every offseason since 2022, when Kiffin was strongly considering the Auburn Tigers, until Kiffin actually leaves.
Mandel is spot on about Alabama, too. Smart money says the Tide is the only team Kiffin would leave LSU for. Based on how he explained his infamous Ole Miss betrayal, he'd probably just outsource his decision to Nick Saban again.
Can't you picture Kiffin joking around about Saban's change of heart? Never forget Saban is still a University of Alabama employee. He may be greasing the wheels to stab LSU in the back whenever he gets the chance by suggesting a jump to Tuscaloosa for Kiffin.