Joe Burrow is far from the most excitable NFL star, but his reaction to Lane Kiffin being hired to coach at his alma mater, LSU, was very muted.
Burrow, fresh off of his first game back after a significant bout with turf toe, was asked about his former program’s hire. The face he makes immediately after receiving the question (shared above) certainly didn’t sell that he is overjoyed by the news.
“Um ... I think he’s a good coach,” Burrow said, shrugging his shoulders. “I guess we’ll ... see how it goes. Those are my thoughts.”
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Burrow, who clearly hasn’t kept tabs on college ball as he worked to get back into playing shape for the Bengals, asked whether Kiffin’s now-former team, Ole Miss, will make the College Football Playoff. When told that they (almost certainly) will, he followed up.
“That’s certainly not an ideal situation ... certainly not an ideal situation for a playoff run, that’s for sure,” Burrow continued. He asked the media whether the rest of the staff was leaving as well, and overall seemed surprised by how the whole situation at LSU and Ole Miss played out.
He also confirmed that he was never recruited by Kiffin while in college. Interestingly, Kiffin was listed as one of his recruiters at Alabama on 247 Sports when Burrow was coming out of Athens High School in Ohio as part of the 2015 recruiting class, but he was not offered by the Crimson Tide. After losing the Ohio State quarterback job to Dwayne Haskins in 2018, Burrow transferred to play for Ed Orgeron at LSU, choosing the Tigers over Cincinnati. By that point, Kiffin was already back in the head coaching ranks, leading FAU.
Burrow stabilized the quarterback position for LSU in 2018, and exploded in ‘19, leading one of the deadliest offenses in college football history. That year, he threw for 5,671 yards, 60 touchdowns and just six interceptions en route to the Heisman Trophy and a national championship.
As Kiffin looks to reshape LSU in his image, Orgeron—a former assistant under Kiffin at USC—has indicated he’s open to rejoining the staff in Baton Rouge, which would certainly build a bridge between the new-look Tigers program and the greatest quarterback in school history.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Joe Burrow Had an Extremely Nonplussed Reaction to LSU Hiring Lane Kiffin.
