Lane Kiffin marks personal milestone with powerful message

LSU head coach Lane Kiffin marked a major personal achievement on Friday, posting on X about a decision he made five years ago that "changed my life and many others around me."

In his post, Kiffin encouraged anyone who feels "held back from being the best version of yourself" to believe that change is possible, even when it feels overwhelming. "It won’t be easy AT ALL," he emphasized, "but I promise it will be worth it."

Although the post didn’t explicitly mention sobriety, Kiffin has spent a lot of the past year openly reflecting on that crucial moment. In candid conversations on The Pivot and with Theo Von on the This Past Weekend podcast, he has shared why that decision was so important and how it reshaped his life.

On The Pivot, Kiffin explained that there wasn’t a dramatic rock bottom moment. Instead, it was a slow realization that something needed to change. "I just got tired of digging," he recalled, describing a cycle of drinking after wins and losses, emotional ups and downs tied to outcomes, weight gain, and the feeling that he was pouring everything into football while overlooking his family. "I wasn’t the best version of myself," Kiffin confessed. "I was doing great at work, but not at home."

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That same openness was clear in his conversation with Theo Von. There, Kiffin talked about sobriety as being more than just not drinking. He described it as emotional sobriety, learning to handle stress, success, and failure without letting any of it take control of him. "It’s not just physical sober," he said. "It’s emotional sober."

Kiffin has been careful not to frame his journey as a grand declaration or a lifelong promise. He has stressed that the change didn’t start with a forever mindset. It began with today.

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On The Pivot, he pointed out that the idea of permanence can be daunting, but concentrating on the present makes it more manageable. "You don’t have to do it forever," he remarked. "You just have to do it today."

Five years later, the core of Kiffin’s message remains strong.

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