Only on Planet Kiffin would a simple request become a national fungus. Why not pick up the cellphone and contact Jayden Daniels, who wore No. 5 when he won a Heisman Trophy at LSU, and ask if he cared whether sophomore cornerback DJ Pickett wore No. 5 this season? That would be a fine way for Lane Kiffin to maintain ties with a luminary in the program, merely the quarterback of the Washington Commanders, as he begins his $91 million-plus-NIL-riches run in Baton Rouge.
That’s not how life works when Kiffin has been a head coach with the NFL Raiders, at Tennessee, at USC, at Florida Atlantic, at Ole Miss and at LSU. Six gigs in 20 years — and he still didn’t find the right answer. Rather than call Daniels, he believed Pickett, who said he was promised No. 5 when he was recruited to the school by Brian Kelly, the former head coach. Kelly has been gracious enough to predict Kiffin will win a national championship. Turns out Pickett wanted No. 5, but he never was promised it.
“I just wasn’t prepared to do it until we got a full commitment from another Heisman Trophy winner,” Kelly told ESPN.
Kiffin is letting Pickett wear No. 5 anyway. Which has angered Daniels, who should be focused on remaining healthy and producing big numbers after lapsing last season. His attorney won’t allow LSU to use his name, image or likeness, a problem for Kiffin and a passionate fan base when he suddenly is split from a prominent player.
“The Daniels family is deeply disappointed and feels profoundly disrespected by LSU’s decision to give Jayden’s number to another player,” said a statement from a spokesperson. “Jayden and his family had every reason to believe that his number would remain a meaningful part of his LSU legacy and would be honored and protected in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the university.”
Here is where Kiffin could have explained to Pickett that he wore No. 3 last season, when he was named a freshman All-American. Why change to No. 5, which hasn’t been retired by the school? Tell Pickett to make No. 3 a legendary number. Nope. Here is where Kiffin hasn’t learned about avoiding trouble when the craziest night of his career, Sept. 19, is approaching at Mississippi, where he left last year to sign with LSU.
“DJ is in (No.) 5, and that was a situation that was promised to him in recruiting here, for him to sign here,” Kiffin said on Aug. 5. “I’ve done a lot of research on that with the family and the representatives and the people, so really I didn’t have a decision to make. It was promised to the kid. It wasn’t done for whatever (reason). I’m not going to get into that. I’m not going to judge something (that was done) when I wasn’t here. But when a kid is promised something to come to a school, he should wear it. So at that point, I don’t think that’s really my decision. We should honor what he was told.”
That’s not what he was told, according to Kelly. Joe Burrow wore No. 9 at LSU when he won the Heisman and led a national championship run. No one has worn his number since 2019. Is Kiffin going to let someone else wear No. 9?
“Jayden made it clear that he did not want his number given to another player, and he believed his wishes would be respected,” said the statement. “His Heisman Trophy-winning season and everything he accomplished on and off the field cemented his place in LSU history. To see his number given to another player is incredibly disappointing and feels like a failure to honor the significance of what Jayden accomplished at LSU.”
Thus, Daniels apparently is erased from LSU history via a cease-and-desist notice. The school claims an athlete must wait five years for his jersey to be retired — and “demonstrated truly unusual and outstanding accomplishments, such as winning a Heisman Trophy or National Player of the Year award and should be based on the total LSU career.”
He qualifies. He must wait until 2028. Kiffin should have addressed it.
Instead …
“Accordingly, LSU must immediately cease and desist from any further issue use, display, publication, distribution, promotion, commercialization, or other exploitation of Mr. Daniels’ NIL in any manner or medium,” attorney Adam Kenner wrote. “Any use of Mr. Daniels’ NIL occurring after LSU’s receipt of this notice will be deemed knowing and willful and will be pursued vigorously through all available legal and equitable remedies, without further notice.”
The season has yet to start. Already, Lane Kiffin deals with a lawsuit.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host.
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