BATON ROUGE — Lane Kiffin gave credit to LSU fans and the city of Baton Rouge for the Tigers signing what is considered by many the best transfer portal class in the country this year.

In his first meeting with reporters since he was introduced as Brian Kelly’s replacement on Dec. 1, the new LSU football coach said Wednesday some of the nation's top players opted to sign with the Tigers because of the region's Southern hospitality.

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In two months on the job, Kiffin gained three quarterbacks, 10 wide receivers, nine offensive linemen, six defensive linemen, four running backs, three defensive backs, three specialists, two linebackers and two tight ends.

Coordinating such a recruiting effort was challenging with members of his staff, including offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., participating in a playoff run at “the last place,” meaning Ole Miss. (Rather than mention the Rebels directly, Kiffin would only refer to Ole Miss as "the last place" he worked before LSU infamously snatched him away late last season).

Despite those challenges, Kiffin credited all the LSU fans in Baton Rouge with making this class possible.

“The whole town was amazing in recruiting to help bring all these kids in, and the hospitality that they showed them at the hotels, restaurants, on campus was unbelievable, and they could feel it,” he said.

Among the most highly touted of the new Tigers is former Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt.

Leavitt recently had foot surgery, but Kiffin said the player most fans expect to replace Garrett Nussmeier will still be able to throw some and also participate in 7-on-7 drills. Leavitt will likely not participate in full-team activities in the spring, Kiffin said.

LSU’s high school recruiting class is led by the No. 1 overall player in the class, "athlete" Lamar Brown of University High, and Edna Karr’s five-star No. 1 defensive lineman Richard Anderson. Both players almost delayed their signings to explore other options, but Kiffin ultimately locked them down on Early National Signing Day just days after he was hired at LSU.

Kiffin reiterated that “the power of a place” like LSU played a major role in signing the best players in the country, as well as his own stubbornness.

“I don’t really do well with 'No,'” Kiffin said. That’s also how he landed Leavitt, who initially left Baton Rouge without signing a deal, he said. Kiffin tracked him down at the Knoxville, Tennessee, airport while Leavitt was visiting with the Volunteers to make one last push.

The head coach said that this is just the beginning of his vision at LSU.

“We really are just getting started,” Kiffin said, adding that he instills in his players and coaches the idea that they get paid a lot of money to produce on the field. He said success at previous jobs doesn’t mean you’ve earned success at a new place.

He said that this first class, portal and high school players combined, is just a foundation for the Kiffin era. The 2026 team will have a lot of young players, as opposed to the senior-laden teams that have overtaken college football as of late.