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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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LSU finished the 2025 season 7–6 overall (3–5 SEC) and concluded with a 38–35 loss to Houston in the Kinder’s Texas Bowl, capping a disappointing year that led to the eventual firing of head coach Brian Kelly on October 26.
The coaching change opened the door to one of the most closely watched hires in recent college football history, as LSU moved quickly to land former Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.
LSU formally announced Kiffin as head coach on November 30, with Kiffin arriving amid significant staff turnover and bringing multiple assistants with him from Oxford to Baton Rouge.
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His departure from an 11–1 Ole Miss program, and the timing of the move, sparked widespread controversy and tension with Ole Miss players and administrators, becoming one of the most scrutinized coaching carousel storylines of the offseason.
On Monday, however, Kiffin’s early tenure at LSU received a notable boost when running back Caden Durham withdrew his name from the NCAA transfer portal and opted to remain in Baton Rouge.
The decision came after meetings between Durham and LSU’s new coaching staff following his entry into the portal earlier this month.
Durham was LSU’s leading rusher during the 2025 season, totaling 505 yards and three rushing touchdowns on 111 carries (4.6 yards per carry).
Despite that, the production marked a step back from his breakout true freshman campaign in 2024, when he rushed for 743 yards and six touchdowns on 140 carries (5.4 yards per carry), while also adding 260 receiving yards and two receiving scores.
Across his first two seasons at LSU, Durham has now accumulated 1,258 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns, along with 44 receptions for 351 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns over 24 games, firmly establishing him as one of Kiffin's most important offensive pieces.
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Retaining Durham preserves LSU’s top internal rushing option and limits a potential exodus of skill-position talent during the transfer window, giving the new staff a familiar and productive player around whom to structure early personnel and schematic decisions.
The move also serves as an early endorsement of Kiffin’s recruitment and retention pitch, as convincing a young, proven contributor to withdraw from the portal signals immediate buy-in to the new staff’s vision and direction.
It's worth noting that Durham’s decision also came shortly after LSU appeared to secure its quarterback of the future, with former Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt reported Monday as expected to sign with the Tigers following weeks of speculation.
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