BATON ROUGE — The first LSU football signing class under Lane Kiffin is finished.
Despite having to work at a torrid pace from the outset, after being hired just two days before the opening of the early signing period in December, Kiffin and his coaching staff put together a strong class that features a couple of five-star blue chip prospects and several other four-star players.
National Signing Day was the final touch for LSU and marked the end of the 2026 recruiting cycle. New Orleans native and three-star cornerback Jackson Williams, who signed Wednesday, was the last piece of the puzzle for Kiffin and company. In all, LSU signed 16 high school players and two junior college transfers.
With LSU not expected to sign any more players to the 2026 class, let’s look at where the Tigers’ class ranks.
Despite having, in some cases, 16 less signees than other teams — it finished ahead of the rankings, LSU was able to piece together a solid signing class the first go-around under Kiffin. Per 247Sports, only six other teams signed more five-stars during this cycle than the Tigers and it’s average rating per recruit is the second-highest in the country behind Oregon.
To accompany LSU’s smaller-than-normal high school class, Kiffin and his staff had to hit the transfer portal hard to find guys that would allow the team to immediately compete for College Football Playoff spots. The Tigers added 40 new players, headlined by Arizona State transfer quarterback Sam Leavitt, while losing 33 to the portal.
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
