Now would be the appropriate time to make clear that Lane Kiffin hasn’t posted on social media since May 11.
And certainly not in the past week, since Brendan Sorsby’s defiance of NCAA gambling rules has hilariously morphed the Big 12 back into the renegade Southwest Conference from whence it came.
And yet it was inevitable these two freak shows would intersect.
Welcome to Week 3 of your college football season, everyone. Fire up the grill, pull out a cold one and watch the glorious standalone theater play out.
Friday, Sept. 18: Houston at Texas Tech, the Big 12 opener for the defending conference champion Red Raiders — and first eligible game for Sorsby, their brand, spanking new quarterback.
Perhaps you’ve heard of him? Cincinnati transfer, elite talent, the key to Texas Tech’s national championship hopes. Hopefully a better reader of defenses than gambling trends.
Saturday, Sept. 19: Kiffin’s first LSU team travels to Ole Miss, from whence he came at the end of the 2025 regular season.
Perhaps you’ve heard of him? Among the top three-paid coaches in the sport, and the only one of the three without a national title. He tried to leverage Ole Miss into coaching in the 2025 College Football Playoff after accepting the LSU job — before failing and eventually dragging his former employer through the social media mud.
A couple of jewels, these two. Neither can help himself if he had to.
Kiffin can’t get over the bitterness of Ole Miss refusing to allow him to coach a potential national championship team. Sorsby can’t get over gambling loss after loss after loss.
Until both — as crazy as it sounds — ultimately got everything he wanted. The job, the money, the ability to suit up in 2026 for another team and take another shot at winning it all.
I ask you, good people, can you — in your heart of hearts — decide who deserves more just comeuppance?
To be fair, Kiffin didn’t break NCAA rules (at LSU, anyway). Sorsby, on the other hand, forever changed the NCAA rulebook — and took the good, salt of the earth folks in West Texas down with him.
What are they supposed to do in Lubbock? Texas Tech is in the fight of its life to stay relevant in the ever-changing (and shrinking by the year) world of college football.
The Big Ten and SEC have gone rogue, the latter threatening to take its ball and go home. And if the SEC breaks away and forms its own rules, guess who follows?
It’s not that difficult to see how it all continues to evolve from there, no matter what the commissioners of the two super conferences publicly say.
Texas Tech tried throwing money at the problem of keeping up with the Joneses, and it worked to a point. So they threw even more at it, and rolled snake eyes with the addition of Sorsby — who has been gambling as a student athlete since 2022, but somehow, magically, it just became a thing this spring.
I promise you, many at Texas Tech wanted Sorsby to fail in a Texas court and be forced to accept his NCAA-mandated ineligibility. They wanted the decision out of their hands, and don’t like any of it ― but they’re pot committed now.
And speaking of pot committed, LSU spent $53 million to tell former coach Brian Kelly his services were no longer needed, then spent $91 million more on Kiffin, and $15 million on his staff. Kiffin’s first roster is estimated to be worth $40-50 million.
If you’re counting at home, that’s about $200 million or so to fire and hire a coach, and set up Kiffin’s first roster. For a guy who can’t stop obsessing about his former employer, to the point of publicly kneecapping the university and state by reintroducing racially-charged narratives.
Check that, he just said what parents told him. I’m sure that makes us all feel so much better.
Sort of like Sorsby’s highfalutin attorney claiming Sorsby’s gambling addiction really isn’t about thousands of bets, but a mental problem. I just feel all warm inside now.
Neither of these two grasp the adolescent concept of accountability. We all make decisions, we all deal with the consequences of those decisions.
Sorsby made his decision to gamble, but then had an attorney argue he shouldn’t face the NCAA consequences.
Kiffin made the decision to leave Ole Miss, but couldn’t understand how it led to consequences — until he got too deep into social media mud of his creation. Then logged off.
Something tells me he’ll be back on before the third week of September.
Before the perfect storm of freak shows reaches full bloom.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lane Kiffin, Brendan Sorsby the center of storms inevitably intersecting
