Lane Kiffin is READY to DOMINATE at LSU | Rohan Davey on the Post-BK Era

We are joined by everyone's favorite LSU quarterback, Rohan Davey, made his way in this morning. Ro, good morning. Good, good, good morning, my friend. Good morning. How y'all doing? Doing good. It's good to see you. It's a little chilly outside. It's cold as hell. It ain't chilly. It's cold. It flipped. And it's going to be cold tonight. It's going to be cold tomorrow. Yep. Like freezing temperatures. You know what I mean? It's the new year. Like the big dog just said, it was like 70 degrees three hours ago. Nope. Not no more. Welcome to the boot, baby. Welcome to the boot, dawg. And a lot of guys are about to figure that out starting this Friday. Oh, nice transition. Thank you. That would have been pretty good. Because a lot of guys are about to transfer into the boot starting on January 2nd when that portal opens. You've seen a big number of offensive linemen hit the portal that have all played for LSU this year. I think it was six that are officially in, but you're going to have to rebuild that offense and probably add some defensive players as well from what you saw Saturday night, right? Yeah. I mean, you know, those guys that you saw out there Saturday from that game, when you saw the amount of guys that weren't going to play, you kind of knew what it was going to look like. Right. You know what I mean? That was, you got six, seven starters out on the defensive side of the football. So it sucked. But what you got a chance to see was the young guys. You got a chance to see them. You knew there was going to be no continuity. You knew there was going to be guys running up in the same holes and things of that nature. I mean, that's what you saw. You know what I mean? That's what you saw. You saw the same stuff that you saw from the offense. You know, so there's going to be massive, I mean, there's already been massive exits there when we talk about offensive linemen and a couple of skilled guys from the offensive side. So, you know, just like you pointed out, it opens up Jam 1 and there's going to be a frenzy of activities. Right. Going on. Free agency starts. Yeah. And it's going to be massive because this is what Lane does. This is his time of the year. The portal is where he's gone when he was at Ole Miss the last few years and now with LSU. Especially in your first year. Right. It's important for you to, I mean, we've seen the overhaul with Colorado, with Florida State, since the portal's existence. We've seen these teams, mass exits. Ole Miss. Ole Miss, Carolina. These guys come in and 70% of the team's new. Right. You know what I mean? So, it's not nothing new, but like Lloyd said off air, it's hard, you know, it's no more of that. You know, there's no more continuity. Yeah. So to speak. You have to build that continuity now. Like you said, Lloyd, you've got to coach. You've got to coach and put in a lot more time. If you want to get these guys up to speed more on, you know, your terminology, how the base of your program works. So, you know, you've also got to bring in the right guys. Yeah. And when you look at the offensive side of the ball, I mean, like we were talking about, you expect it to be really a completely different unit next season from what you've seen this year. What positions or maybe players do you see circled or identified as, let's hold on to those pieces and then overhaul everything else, or is it just kind of almost a complete reset? Well, you know, you definitely want to keep the guys, you know, that could play in his system. Right. So as many backs and wide outs as you can keep that are quality guys that we know they are because we recruited them. Right. You want to do that. But you also want to let Lane, you know, I mean, he is, of course, go and select the guys that he know whether it's bringing in some of his guys. Of course, some of those guys are going to come. But just now having the ability of you being at LSU to go out and get what you want. So I look for like the big guys, especially the top two quarterbacks that are on the board. Far as like the kid from Arizona State, I see Lagway might be throwing his name in the hat. So, you know, just guys like that, which now are going to be guys that are attractive to Lane at the quarterback position. And also, I'd be interested to see what happens with Van Buren. Honestly, it'd be interesting to see what happens with him if he what conversation those guys have had. Does he have an opportunity to stay here? Because, I mean, when you kind of look at him, he's in and I'm not saying he's this caliber. Right. But he's in the mold of a Chambliss. Chambliss. He's in that mold as far as could throw the football on the run. Not the same guy, but he's in that mold. And I don't know if Lane sees and says, you know what? Because, you know, all of us are coaches and got egos. Right. I don't know if he sees that and says, you know what? With my coaching, I can at least have a quality backup in him if I talk him into staying while I go out and get someone else. So we'll see there because it won't cost you much to keep him here. You know what I mean? I think he's been judged rather harshly just because of the situation which LSU has been in place. From Nussmeier being a Heisman, maybe, candidate, top-ranked first overall pick. Right. But I'm saying where the expectations were to Van Buren, you get to sit for a year, versus now you're in the game and it's like, oh, he's dog water. Right. He's a true sophomore. He hasn't really been able to play yet, so I don't think the final book has been written on Van Buren because you see some potential. I don't either because, I mean, you know. He's got some traits. He came in in a very tough situation. And the offense is not very good. That's right. It's putrid. That's a nice way to put it. And that was with your Heisman hopeful, right? That really wasn't a Heisman hopeful. It was just a campaign we did to bring him back because we had no one else. Ross Perot. Yes, right. I judge Van Buren harsh, too, honestly, when he first started playing, just on decision making. It was never, for me, when the quarterbacks first come in, it's never on like, you know, whether you skip a ball or whatever, whatever. For me, it's your decision making. And I saw that get better. I saw that get better as he played. Now, he's still bouncing balls, skipping balls, inaccurate. But that's something that you're going to have to work on in the offseason. You know what I mean? It's not something you can work on. It was not until it's a fair hand. No, I mean, hell, none of them were. We weren't either as Vans, right? **** no. Hell, damn him. Batman. You know, I have never been so happy to see a season over. Yes. Oh my God. That's what we were just saying. Today, it feels like as ugly as the game was, it's a celebration of how the book is thrown away. Burnt. I had to read that whole thing for class. ****. This book sucks. And that's what we said at Saturday. That was the first time sitting and watching them play felt like work. An exorcism. Yeah, it wasn't fun. Right. You weren't excited for it. Well, the first play was fun. Yeah. That was it. That was it? Trey Dazs was fun. Well, Trey Dazs was fun. And he had another play. The second kick return was fun, too. But that's the frustrating part. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But that's the frustrating part. It's like, you see it, and it's just like, y'all wasted so much, and it's not my money. I don't give a ----. Bro, there was a lot of talent on that. Yes, that's what's frustrating. It was a lot of talent. And what you're going to see is, just like we did with Joe's year and Jaden's year, you're going to see all that talent. Right. You're going to see it in the league. And you're going to see it doing well. And you're going to be like, what the hell happened when we were here? I got to be in the LSU story. Yeah, me, too. But it's all right. Lane's here. What, like Daniel Hunter? Where it's like, how did this guy not wreck LSU when he was there? And it was like, he didn't really get on the field. And then now you see him in the NFL, where he's a monster. He's a chief. He's an all-pro. And he's been that for years. And he'll be a Hall of Famer. And that's what you're going to see. He's been that for years. You tell me all the muscles can't do nothing at LSU. Darion Brown and Chris Hilton and these guys from this all, where it's like, what do you think? That's what I'm saying. Zapion Thomas and everybody, like, how did they not score 40 points a game? I don't know. How would you summarize the Brian Kelly era? A shitty. The word we use is a waste. A waste. Honestly, bro. Upsetting. And I say that because that's like the first thing that comes to mind. When you think about it, it was, um, that's a great word. Shitty. Waste. I mean, you wasted a Heisman season. That's a great word, way to put it. And like, it's almost like you will forget about that era. Right. You know what I mean? If that makes sense. Because it's going to be like, for me, when I think about from the time he got here. And listen, this is also, too, with me having personal feelings behind it. You know what I'm saying? So it just seems like it was a total, first it was a total blunder. Yeah. To even have him here. It didn't fit us at all. The culture was way too much. The lack of understanding on his part and the lack of wanting to understand. Yeah. That's where everything just got muddied and lost, man. And he was just a total, total, just wrong. Just wrong, wrong, wrong for us. You know what I mean? So that's a great way to put it, bro. It was a waste. It was a waste of everything. Like talent, money, like we took steps backwards because of it. You know what I mean? It was like, it was just terrible. Yeah. But it does feel nice to see that door close. And I think the excitement for what's next is you feel like the time and the resources and the players with this new staff will not be wasted. Right? Well, it can't be. You know what I mean? Like, it can't be. And especially not to the degree of what we just went through. For one, you have a guy that knows the culture, knows the SEC, knows the lay of the land, and knows everything about what he's stepping into. He's had the greatest mentor to let him know that and the great Nick Saban. Two, you have a guy that's hungry as hell to prove himself and has been hungry to prove himself for a long time. And now he's on the biggest stage that he could possibly be on to prove that. I don't think he's going to leave any stone unturned. You know what I mean? And now you have the ability to go out and get any freaking player you want. Yeah. Because the only thing that they're going to go against you now and say now when you go out, they're going to be like, well, why are you going to go play for him? You don't know if he's going to be there. Why are you going to go play for him? But you know what? They can say the same thing about your ass. Right. Ain't no coach. We don't know if any coach is ever going to be there. Yeah. You know what I mean? That's what we are, and it's been that way. This is not new. Coaches leaving is not new because they've been had that ability. Right. Players leaving is new. Yes. So this thing about, oh, I'm going there because the coach don't go there because the coach may not be there, don't go there. Listen, man, if I'm an offensive player, and honestly, we keep saying that, if I'm a defensive player and I got Blake on that side and I've seen what he's done and how that defense play, what defensive player would not want to play for him? It's fun. It's exciting. Right. It's NFL caliber. It's what they do every week in the league. It's not the same defense every week. They design it based on what you have coming to play you and who you want to slow down and stop. You don't think Monster Delane just made a bag coming to LSU? Right. A.J. Halsey. You saw how important they were Saturday night. That's exactly right. For those guys with the perks off the field, the weeks off the field, the Halseys, the Delanes, with them not on the football field, it wasn't the same defense. I mean, that's a great point you bring up. If you have a Delaney and Halsey at Virginia Tech. Oh, she wins. No, just say if they're still at their school. Right, right. Oh. Are they first-round picks? Are they All-Americans? They're not All-Americans. Right. They're not first-round picks. Yeah. Now, it's the same talent, but it shows better in that scheme that they played in. If Delaney is not in a man-to-man scheme, it does not show his ability. Right. If he's in a zone-covering scheme, now the question is, can he play man? You know what I'm saying? So, the scheme helps. The guys help. Man, listen, that's another attractive piece to it. Well, if I'm a kid transferring or doing whatever, listen, man, I'm looking at LSU. Offensively, I'm looking at Lane. Right. I'm looking at the running backs. I'm looking at the wideouts. I'm looking at how many guys have been in the league from both sides. So, it's way attractive. And correct me if I'm wrong, would you not say that the brand does that for you as well whenever you're OSU? Instead of playing at Virginia Tech at 11 a.m., you're playing at 7 o'clock at night in Tiger Stadium at Prom Tom TV. 100%. The brand is the thing. That's why Lane's here. That really is. I think that was the selling point for him. He's like, I wanted this. Go ahead. One of the easiest things to sell in the world is upside. And right now, LSU has so much. You know what I mean? You can sell. Right, from the coaching to the brand to the financial support, the money. Right? They check every box. Even if it's not quite real yet, that's even better in a way because you're selling this. Peter Pan. Yes. It's the same thing when you see a 15-year-old kid. Potential. Right. Potential. He's 15 years old and he's 6'3". Yeah, Harlan Berry getting offered as an 8th grader. That's what I'm saying. Right. So, you know, that is what you're selling to the kids, but it's not hard to sell it. You've got a proven coach. Clemson's hard to sell. Clemson is hard to sell. Dabo's hard to sell. Lane in LSU is easy to hate but not hard to sell. It's not hard to sell. And the brand, right, bro? It's cool. Honestly, it is. And it's been that way, but I've got to take my hat off now to women's basketball. Right. And women's basketball, with the brand recognition and just everything that they've done with it, because they've done a lot more than damn football has now. Football is coming around. Right. But those ladies, the way that they have brand marketed that thing, and I'm talking about you go back probably a couple of years before like an Angel Reese when they just started Kim. Yeah. And they've taken that to a whole other level. Yeah. With everything that those ladies have done. And it busts real cool because you have an Angel Reese and all that comes with her. Then you get a flage behind her who is just so super talented. Right. And everything that she does is just so global. So, it's like now the brand. The brand. And they push the brand. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? You go back to Libby Dunn and the gymnasts. Most teams can't string a sentence together. That's what I'm telling you, bro. But he's cool. But it's the logo. That's why he's not on there. They've got to get there 105. But when they're on there. And it's athletes that aren't football players. That's right. On the sideline at the spring game. That's right. That recruits still want to take pictures with. That's right. They're still lined up to take a picture with Angel Reese. That's right. And Libby Dunn and Paul Schumacher. You know, they're still. Big foe. And then you still throw in the Malik neighbors, the Brian Thomas, the Justin Jeffersons, the Jamar Chase. The Leonard Furnette can come around. It's massive. For real. It's the brand. For real. It's real. And that's why there's so much excitement about what's going to happen moving forward. Do you think that it is a kind of a tipping point for LSU football in terms of we've always been able to say LSU is this because look what happens whenever you, not even get it right, Les Miles, Ed Orgeron, were able to win a national championship. Now you have an actual legitimate guy. And if he's not able to. But you know that those guys had the tech, they, Ed Orgeron, or Coach Miles, they had enough of what they did. Because they wouldn't, you know, I hate when people try to like, not discredit them, right? Because they're vital to the success. Because you know what? They hired those coordinators. They let those guys coach. And they did things throughout the course of the year and games that won them games. You know what I mean? It's a lot to be said for a guy being a motivator. Yeah, sure. Because if the players don't believe in the guy that's standing up there talking to them, you're going to get ---- done. Well, that's got you to play. I promise you that. Yeah. You're going to get nothing done. You're right about that. I guess. Damn. It was just so archaic. Right, right. Like, it shouldn't have worked, and it did. I don't know how he recruited, but it worked. There were the head-scratching moments and maybe decisions or, you know, the game clock blunders that happened and all of those things. Undefeated in regulation. But they were going – Lamine Barrow said at one time where it was either you were going to get beat by LSU or you were going to get beat up by LSU. Like, it was a real thing. Yeah. And that's what had fallen off over the last handful of seasons. Physically. Right. Well, I mean, it took on the personality of that coach. Right, right. When you got a coach that drives a Tesla and like lattes. You know what I'm saying? And you got another – well, that ain't all he like, but. Tequila. Yeah. Tequila. And you got another coach that, you know what I'm saying, coming in the office 4.30 in the morning and getting to work and you coming in after brunch. It's a different thing. You know what I mean? Because it trickles down. Yeah, man. You're not tough. You can talk about it and just grab your shorts and jump all you want to. But, yeah, you're not tough, dude. Can't nobody sit around and say Orgeron wasn't tough. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, you tell him that. He punched himself in the face before every football game. And even Les Miles. He had to be tough to play in that box that he loved us to play in. You know what I'm saying? And he was the utmost confident despite his – Everything. Yeah, just like drunk on confidence. He's like, for no reason. I'm going for it. But it trickled down. Then you believe. Les, we're on our own 15th. But then you sit back and you think about it. The first at Arizona State. And if Nick Saban's not at Alabama. Oh, my God. He's the best coach of all time. That's what I'm saying. And he was a bumbling fool. Instead, we're like, oh, look at him eat the grass. Right. He's a cow. And now, but it's also like – But that's all she could do for you. That's what I'm saying. It worked. And now the pressure is on because what's your excuse now? Right? You've got the coach. You've got the financial buy-in. You've got the brand exposure. You've got everything lined up. And so now it's like, okay, deliver. How long is Lane's deal? Nine years. Seven years. I said nine years. I think it's seven years, 91 million. Shit, everybody gets three. I mean, it's three years, then we buy them out. Well, I was just about to say, we know we're going to get three for sure. Right. If we get five, we'll win two. Yeah, if we get five. And he'll be the first one to win two. And how fast does that start? Oh, that ---- starts right now. Because the expectations are 2026. It starts now. Yeah. It ain't no, it's the new college football, dog. Ain't no waiting, dog. Ain't no, yeah, hell no, I'm going to give you 100 million. And we're going to give you 30 more for you to go out and get what you need. No, there's no, not in today's football. I'm sorry, there isn't. And, you know, that's why you go out and you spend a lot of time and money and make sure you get what you want. Right. And make sure these coaches are in place and make sure that when these guys get here, you hit the ground running because that's what it is, man. Because he's made a lot of the portal. Yes, he's a portal king. He's put the pressure on himself. No, but even at LSU where he's like. I can say it. Yeah, he's literally like, I wish I could be on the phone right now. Yes. But see, I think that to me is more of a representation because, a representation of him knowing what's going to happen. He does. Like he knows it's about to be huge. Whatever he say about the portal and how it's done because, listen, bro, they've been working on this. Right. It ain't just start yesterday. You know what I mean? Yes. He's been in the portal for five years now. Right. And killing it. So he knows what the hell is going on and who's on who and what guy. You know what I mean? Like he knows all that. Listen, like we talked about a couple of minutes ago. Lane says he needs the best of luck. I believe Lane. Yep. You don't have to ask me nothing else. I'm surprised he was at the bowl game. Yeah, you know, because people, we talked about it this morning. And I thought it was stupid. It was because people were upset of the video of him getting in the car and leaving, I think, at halftime. And I was like. That's poison for his brain. I want him in the office. I want him in football ops. He was there to make a sales pitch. Right. Yeah. What is the gain of him sitting and watching that football game? No, he's going to get worse at football watching that. Nah, he did exactly what he was supposed to do. You go, you're the new coach. I go, I'm going to check some ---- out. Let me go holler at my little TV people, do my thing where they got lined up for me. And I'm about to go back and do what I need to do. Right. But, see, that's the difference, though. I think people are used to what we had for the last few years and this and that. No, this is what real coaches do, man. Go to the work. You don't waste your time. Yeah, we go to work. You don't waste your time. That's taken care of. These guys having their last hoorah. Right. I don't even want to be there to rain on their parade. That's for them. Yeah, exactly. This is Frank's team. Exactly. I'm here to support Frank and to do what we do and talk to the people. I'm out of here. Right. I'm out. I'm done. You know what I mean? Like, there's three people on this team I might keep. That's what he's looking at. Right. Like, this is not my football team. Right. What do you think? If you put yourself in Lane Kiffin's shoes right now, or Saturday night, watching number 14, watching Trades Green play football, what's going through your head? Shit. I'd have been drawing up plays right there on the sideline. Right. For him. If he hasn't already. Yeah. You know? But that's, like, one of the things we talked about. You get the weapon like that. That's the kind of guy you can go and get now. Right. Where, as opposed before, you could. You know, I just think offensively, man, it's just been a waste. Because you had so much dynamic guys on the offensive side of the football. Savion, Barry, Berrien, Hilton, Trae Dez. I mean, even Num Nuts. Bower Sharp. Even him. He going to do some things. He got to make sure he hold on to it. Football now. You know what I'm saying? He's going to fair catch and toe tap. God damn it. Hey, man. That pissed me off, man. That's a perfect play. I mean, what are we doing? Sell insurance. You know what the biggest indictment was? They kept finding him. That's what I'm saying. It was amazing. Credit to Houston. No, Bower Sharp quit. They circled you. Move him around. Get him out the game. He had blinking lights on. There he is. The walk in. Oh, yeah. Oh, best catch of the year. It was like Dabo's kid whenever he was kick returner. Like, you know what we're going to do? Like, we're actually going to kick it to him. He's like, oh, ----. Got to get him out the game. Got to get him out the game, coach. Coach, we need your boy out the game. It's a fun story. Until he plays. Exactly. It's all nice. Mom wants pictures. Come on, take pictures. It's all nice and fancy to get out there and get his head knocked clean off. Kenzo. It started so strong for Bower in the game. He gets a good block on the Barry on kick return. Then he gets a pancake on the Harlem Barry 36 yard run. How did you see any of that? And then it just goes downhill. Slow motion. It went downhill fast for him. And I like him. Me too. He has good size. He runs good. Right. Everything. He always trying to jump over people, too. He's just cosplaying football. It's like it's a holiday. He's like a toned down version of Gronk, man. Baby Gronk. Very baby. Not good Gronk. And Jonathan had a question before we went live that I do want to ask you about while we're on. Is the offensive line exodus. You have six guys that all started games and played for you this season. It's because they coached them. That are in the portal. Are you going to be able to replace that and bring in that many in the portal? You have to. It's not a question of can you. It's a question of hell yeah. They're going to have to. And evaluate whatever you have left. Evaluate who you have coming in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, man. I'm not worried about it. Yeah. I'm not worried about it at all. Y'all can get. Yeah, I'm not worried about it at all. Now, some of those guys. Potential. They have a lot of potential. Right. Because you grade offensive linemen the same. I know we look at it. It's not easy. We grade them the same way you do quarterbacks. And that's going from your first year to your second year. Right. And a lot of these guys. And especially if you were playing for your first time that year. Not necessarily what your classification is. Right. So, it's a lot of these guys the first time really playing this year. For real. And, you know, got what they got out of it. And guaranteed next year they're going to be better football players. So, you know. And it wasn't for lack of size. It wasn't for lack of athletic ability. So, you got to point to whether it was some part of it was coaching. Some part of it was the chaos that was going on internally there. But I wouldn't have liked to see. That's a lot of offensive linemen that left. Yeah. That's a lot. And a lot of talented ones. Yeah. I mean, when you look at a guy like Karius Kearns, a true freshman. Right. Started games. I mean, these guys, like you said, these are their. Some of them, the majority of them, their first time is really going. Right. You know, like. E.J. Fletcher played 20 games. Right. He's a sophomore. Right. But, like, outside of him and Mbenga. I mean, like, Tyree is his first year starting. Cohen Echols, his first year starting. Ori Williams got his first couple of starts. Yeah. And he was. He got like an 85. That's what I'm saying. Pass blocking against Arkansas. They are not bad. And the fact that they jumped in so early just lets you know that there's a lot of suitors for them. You know what I mean? So. But you have the money. I wish them luck. And the mindset to bring in the new guys. They can. Yeah. I mean, that's going to have to be a point of emphasis. Right. Offensive lineman and quarterback is going to be a point of emphasis. I really believe that when it comes to the skill positions, you can find skilled guys. Guys that can catch the football. Guys that can run. Guys that can do the same thing. Especially in lanes often. But you're going to have to replace those offensive linemen. And not only just for starters, but just for damn depth. Right. You know what I mean? So, whatever you have coming in or whatever freshmen that already are committed coming in, their role is going to have to step up. And you're going to have to catch them up to speed a lot faster than normal. Shit. Six of them is a lot, dog. And then. Like in your experience. I'm sorry. No, you're good. Like having, you know, played by a lot of offensive linemen. Can you put together five, six guys in one off season? If they're all brand new. Yes. And have them mesh in time. Yes. Yes, you can. No doubt about it. It's not easy. But there are going to be veteran guys. Yeah. And that depends. That plays in part to it, too. You know what I mean? If you're bringing in five juniors. Right. Or a couple juniors and two seniors. Whatever it may be. Because scheme is scheme. Right. And some schemes. Most schemes are the same when it comes to running. It's still combo blocking. It's still, you know, passing off. It's still pulling and all that type of stuff. So, the terminology for most of these guys is what they have to get down the most. You know what I mean? So, once they get the terminology down. How we call plays. How they call line pulls and stunts and whatever it is that they do up front. However they decide to do that. However lane system calls that. That's mostly what these guys have to get used to. The rest of the stuff is the same thing that they've been doing wherever they've been at for years. You know what I mean? So.