Lane Kiffin Announces 11 Additions To His 2026 Football Staff

BATON ROUGE – LSU has officially added 11 new coaches to its football staff, head coach Lane Kiffin announced on Monday.

The staff additions include seven on the offensive side of the ball, three defensive coaches along with a special teams coordinator. Eight of the 11 additions to Tiger coaching staff followed Kiffin from Ole Miss to LSU. In addition, all 11 of the coaches come to LSU with SEC experience and eight have NFL experience, either as a player or coach or both.

Charlie Weis Jr. will serve as LSU’s offensive coordinator, while Joe Houston has been tabbed as the special teams coordinator.

Joining Weis on the offensive side of the ball will be Kevin Smith (assistant head coach/running backs), Joe Cox (tight ends/co-offensive coordinator), George McDonald (wide receivers/passing game coordinator), Eric Wolford (offensive line), Sawyer Jordan (inside wide receivers) and Dane Stevens (quarterbacks).

Weis, McDonald, Smith, Cox, Stevens, and Jordan all served on the Ole Miss staff with Kiffin and were part of the best regular-season in program history in 2025 as the Rebels posted an 11-1 mark and advanced to the College Football Playoffs.

In 2025, the Ole Miss offense averaged nearly 38 points per game and led the SEC in yards per game (498.0), passing yards per game (312.4) and rushing touchdowns (36). Ole Miss has scored 59 total offensive touchdowns this season, which ranks second in the league.

The Ole Miss offense featured SEC Newcomer of the Year in quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and All-America running back Kewan Lacy, who has rushed for 1,366 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Wolford previously coached the offensive line at Kentucky, while Stevens was the offensive coordinator at West Georgia in 2024 before returning to Ole Miss in 2025 as the passing game specialists. He served as senior analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach for Kiffin and the Rebels in 2022-23.

On defense, LSU has added Sterling Lucas (defensive line), Chris Kiffin (linebackers/co-defensive coordinator) and Lou Spanos (assistant defensive line/pass rush specialist).

Lucas joins the program after four seasons as the defensive ends and outside linebackers coach at South Carolina. Spanos and Kiffin both joined the LSU staff from Ole Miss. Chris Kiffin coached the Ole Miss linebackers in 2025 after spending the five previous years in the NFL. Spanos most recently served as a defensive analyst for the Rebels and comes to LSU with 17 years of NFL experience.

In 2024, Lucas oversaw the development of Kyle Kennard, who won the Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation’s top defensive player.

Houston coached at Florida for the past two seasons, including the 2025 season when he served as the special teams coordinator for the Gators. Other stops during his coaching career include one season under Nick Saban at Alabama, three years as a special teams coach at the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick.

LSU Football Coaching Staff Additions:
Joe Cox – Co-Offensive Coordinator / Tight Ends
Joe Houston – Special Teams Coordinator
Sawyer Jordan – Inside Wide Receivers
Chris Kiffin – Co-Defensive Coordinator / Linebackers
Sterling Lucas – Defensive Line
George McDonald – Passing Game Coordinator / Wide Receivers
Kevin Smith – Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs
Lou Spanos – Pass Rush Specialist / Assistant Defensive Line
Dane Stevens – Quarterbacks
Charlie Weis Jr. – Offensive Coordinator
Eric Wolford – Offensive Line

(Release via LSU Athletics)