Lane Kiffin's Year 1 records: Inside LSU coach's struggles in first seasons at Tennessee, Ole Miss & more

LSU head coach Lane Kiffin was hired as the Tigers' next head coach to fill some big expectations. His predecessor, Brian Kelly, was fired midseason after failing to get the Tigers to the College Football Playoff after four seasons.

Kiffin had led Ole Miss to its first-ever CFP last season, although he left before getting to coach his team through it. Armed with seemingly unlimited NIL resources, including a reported $40 million roster, LSU's playoff chances took a hit with last week's 32-24 loss to Ole Miss.

While LSU is still very much in the hunt for the CFP, the loss might be the first sign that Kiffin will have a down first season in Baton Rouge. In fact, Kiffin historically throughout his career has had poor first seasons as a first-year head coach. The trend even dates back to his time with the Oakland Raiders in 2007, and as recently as his first season with Ole Miss in 2020. MORE: What did Al Davis say about Lane Kiffin? Revisiting messy 2007 firing from Raiders

Despite having zero NFL experience, Raiders owner Al Davis signed Kiffin to a two-year $2 million contract. At the time of his hiring at 31 years old, he was both the youngest head coach in Raiders franchise history.

Kiffin's tenure was defined by his rocky relationship with Davis. Ahead of the 2007 NFL Draft, Kiffin apparently begged Davis to select receiver Calvin Johnson . Davis picked quarterback JaMarcus Russell instead. Russell bombed as a raider and is still widely regarded as one of the biggest busts in NFL history.

Russell even held out of training camp and the start of Oakland's season in 2007 due to contract negotiations with the team. Kiffin started Josh McCown instead, and Oakland lost 36-21 in Week 1.

The Raiders lost 23-20 on the road against Denver in Week 2 and defeated the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins to reach 2-2 after Week 4. But Oakland proceeded to lose 10 out of its final 12 games, finishing 4-12 on the season.

According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, Davis reportedly asked Kiffin to resign after his first season in Oakland. Kiffin reportedly refused. The Raiders ultimately denied the report. MORE: Meet the 20-year-old Ole Miss student behind viral Lane Kiffin taunting photo

His first and only season at Tennessee was actually one of his most successful. After getting fired by the Raiders just four weeks into the 2008 season, he returned to college football ahead of the 2009 season.

In Knoxville, he was tasked to replace longtime Vols head coach Philip Fulmer, who won a national championship at Tennessee in 1998.

Led by quarterback Jonathan Crompton and running back Montario Hardesty, the Vols finished the regular season 7-5, with SEC East wins over Georgia, No. 21 South Carolina and Vanderbilt. But Tennessee struggled against most ranked teams it faced, losing to No. 1s Florida and Alabama, as well as losses to UCLA and Ole Miss.

The Vols fell 37-14 to No. 12 Virginia Tech in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.

Kiffin shockingly left Tennessee after his lone season there, calling USC his "dream job." He had previously worked for several seasons under Pete Carroll with the Trojans from 2001-2006.

Before the season even began, the NCAA hit Kiffin's new team with a bowl ban, as well as numerous scholarship reductions stemming from the Reggie Bush improper benefits scandal under Carroll.

Led by quarterback Matt Barkley , running back Marc Tyler and receivers Robert Woods and Ronald Johnson, the Trojans won anyway. USC got out to a 4-0 start, defeating Hawaii on the road, Virginia, and beating Minnesota and Washington State away from home.

The Trojans went 1-3 in October, falling to fWashington, No. 16 Stanford and No. 1 Oregon. USC finished the regular season with a 2-2 mark, beating Arizona State and No. 18 Arizona, before dropping its last two games to Oregon State and Notre Dame, but closed out the season beating rival UCLA 28-14 to finish 7-5.

Kiffin had to rebuild his coaching reputation at Alabama, spending three seasons on Nick Saban's staff in Tuscaloosa. During his first season at Florida Atlantic, the Owls got off to a 1-3 start, with losses to Navy, as well as road losses vs. No. 9 Wisconsin and Buffalo.

But FAU rattled off 10 straight wins from there, and clinched a trip to the first-ever C-USA title game in school history. The Owls also reached 11 wins for the very first time in program history .

Kiffin coached the Owls in the Boca Raton Bowl, beating Akron 50-3.

After compiling a 26-13 record at FAU, he was hired to take over at Ole Miss in Dec. 2019.

Kiffin's first year in Oxford came during a shortened season in 2020. College football's COVID season was a weird one for teams across the country, as teams and coaches played through positive tests and quarantines.

Ole Miss started the season 1-4, with losses to No. 5 Florida, No. 2 Alabama, Arkansas and Auburn. But the Rebels rattled off three wins over Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Mississippi State. Due to COVID rescheduling, Ole Miss played its final game of the regular season on Dec. 19, losing to LSU in Baton Rouge 53-48. LSU defeated Indiana in the Outback Bowl 26-20.

Of course, even after LSU's road loss to Ole Miss, the Tigers are still very much in the CFP hunt. This week, LSU faces No. 23 Texas A&M at home before facing a remaining ranked opponent in No. 24 Mississippi State on Oct. 17. LSU's month of November looks particularly tough, featuring games against No. 8 Alabama, No. 1 Texas and a road trip to No. 14 Tennessee on Nov. 21.

Kiffin was hired to lead LSU to the CFP as early as this season, and anything less than that would be considered a failure.