When the LSU Tigers look back on their books, they’ll know that they paid a good chunk of money to get rid and hire new coaches, including Lane Kiffin and the most recent one, Will Wade.
According to a report from Fox Sports’ Aaron Torres, LSU has spent nearly $200 million across both college basketball and college football in the last six months. The major part of that money has gone to finance the coaching overhauls in both sports.
How Much Has LSU Paid in Buyout in the Last Year?
The Tigers fired head coach Brian Kelly midway through the 2026 college football season. As part of the buyout clause of his contract, LSU owed him $54 million. After firing Kelly, LSU poached Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin at the end of the regular season. The $91 million contract with him made the head coach one of the highest-earning head coaches in all of college football.
Coming to college basketball, after the LSU Tigers failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, it appears that Matt McMahon has been fired, since the program is bringing back Will Wade, who was their former head coach from 2017 to 2022. McMahon’s contract will burden the LSU books by $8 million as part of his buyout clause.
The program will also be required to finance Will Wade’s buyout from NC State, which is around $3 million. The LSU books will further need to finance Wade’s new contract, and that will be substantial.
Including the 2026 college football budget of $40 million, the total sum of these expenses comes out to $200 million.
How LSU Performed in College Football and Basketball?
The major reason for coaching overhauls at LSU was the disappointing performance across both college football and basketball. After going 7-6 overall, including a 3-5 record in the SEC, LSU changed its head coach. Having already dismissed Brian Kelly, the Tigers brought in Lane Kiffin, who led the Rebels to an 11-1 regular season result, earning them a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Meanwhile, in college basketball under Matt McMahon, the program went 15-17 overall, including 3-15 in the SEC conference, thereby failing to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Critics mocked that it was one of their worst seasons in program history.
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