Starting Anew: U-High’s Knox Kiffin accustomed to change
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
BATON ROUGE – Less than 24 hours had passed since Knox Kiffin’s season ended at Oxford High in a 21-20 loss to Tupelo in the Class 7A state semifinals.
In his first season with the school, Kiffin, who transferred from Palos Verdes High (Calif.) last summer, passed for 1,236 yards and 14 touchdowns for head coach Chris Cutliffe.
Kiffin moved across the country to be with his father, Lane Kiffin, the head coach at Ole Miss, when rumors began swirling about the elder Kiffin’s future in Oxford. After leading the Rebels to a 38-19 win over arch-rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl, he was the subject of head coaching openings in the Southeastern Conference, with LSU emerging for the services of the offensive-minded coach.
Lane Kiffin was announced as LSU’s new football coach on Nov. 30 and introduced the following day during a news conference with his family.
Three days after throwing his final pass in Oxford High’s playoff game, a matchup in which Knox Kiffin threw for 178 yards and three touchdowns, he joined his father in Baton Rouge, where he was going to begin reviving LSU’s program.
Knox has been a part of his father’s nomadic journey, something that’s become commonplace for the 16-year-old to accept as the norm.
“There’s a lot of changes in the position he’s in as a coach, and you just have to get used to that at a young age, and that’s what I did,” the younger Kiffin said after his spring game at University High on May 13. “Knowing that I’m going to have to change a lot and move a lot, I’m just able to adapt to it quickly and meet people, meet new people. It’s a good lesson in life.”
Lane Kiffin’s collegiate coaching career has taken him from USC to Alabama, Florida International, and Ole Miss, where he coached the Rebels to the College Football Playoff in 2025.
Because he accepted a seven-year, $91 million contract to become head coach at LSU, Lane Kiffin wasn’t allowed to coach Ole Miss in the playoffs, where the Rebels defeated Tulane and Georgia, before being eliminated by Miami, 31-27, in the semifinal round.
His father’s latest addition to his resume meant another move for Knox, who is considered a three-star prospect and the nation’s No. 50 quarterback in the Class of 2028.
Just where Knox would be attending his junior year had its own share of speculation, with the family ultimately deciding that University High made the most sense.
U-High football coach Andy Martin was flooded by interest in the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Kiffin’s destination, which fluctuated between his school and Catholic High.
“What was easier for Coach Kiffin was to have him at U-High,” Martin said. “They can see him all of the time. That’s why the speculation was that he was coming here. There were so many rumors going on, and that people had spotted him here, but he never did any of that. It was funny to see all of the things that were coming out. I’m glad he decided to come here. He’s a good kid that works really hard.”
Five months after moving to Baton Rouge, Knox Kiffin has gained a measure of comfort at his new school with new classmates, teammates, and coaching staff.
“It’s been good in the change from Mississippi,” he said. “I think I’ve adjusted to it, and I’m ready for football season and the main part when everybody comes out. I think we’re gelling really well here. LSU’s a great place, especially the stadium and the football program. I didn’t know much about Baton Rouge, but they’ve welcomed me.
“The high school decision, it was right down the road,” he said. “Proximity plays a factor. He (father) could watch my games from his office. It’s right there. They have a good program and it’s close, so making the decision was easy.”
For the past 16 years, at U-High, first as defensive coordinator, and head coach the past seven seasons, Martin’s been accustomed to having high-profiled student-athletes at the school.
Traditionally, the choice of high-ranking officials at LSU, which includes faculty and administrators, the location of U-High on LSU’s campus is a bonus that also offers a challenging curriculum.
LSU coaches, from a variety of sports, have sent their children to U-High’s campus, which serves K-12.
“I’ve had Governor’s kids, former head coaches at LSU’s kids, tons of coaches’ kids,” he said. “Our kids understand that different players are going to come in, and they try to make them feel welcomed right away, and getting them to understand our culture and the way we do things.
“Sometimes that takes some time to figure out how we do things,” he said. “That’s what we’re working on right now (with Knox Kiffin), so by the time summer gets here, we’ll start to crank up with our team because we’ll have all of our guys from other sports. We can start to build what we’re going to have in 2026.”
Junior-to-be wide receiver Kameron Grisby said Kiffin’s been welcomed with open arms.
“He’s part of the family now, he’s built a great connection with us,” he said. “At the end of the day, he’s a part of the team. He’s our quarterback, and we’re going to treat him as QB1.”
Martin has had a hand in coaching the son of a sitting LSU head coach before.
Manny Miles, the son of LSU head coach Les Miles, passed for 1,952 yards and 23 touchdowns and helped U-High to the Division II state championship with a 46-32 win over Parkview Baptist.
“I think coach Kiffin just wants what’s best for his son and making sure he’s at a good program,” Martin said. “All indications are that he’s going to let the coaches coach and try and make him the best player he can be. It’s a neat opportunity for us. It’s great for Knox to be seen by a lot of schools. There are going to be a lot of schools watching him and his development, and I think he’s going to have the opportunity to play some high-level football.
“I think we put a good product out there,” Martin said of his program’s attraction. “I think we’ve shown to be consistent in putting good products out on the field year in and year out and then placing kids in college. I’m excited for them choosing U-High and wanting to be a part of our program. It’s a natural fit for a lot of coaches because they’re so close. They can come watch the practices, and it’s not a far drive for them. It makes for a very unique situation.”
U-High’s game field – Jeff Boss Field – is adjacent to LSU’s Charles McClendon practice fields, along with the LSU Football Operations Center, which houses the coaches’ offices.
Kiffin said that a change in school colors and mascots won’t change his objective.
“It’s just flipping your mindset,” he said. “It’s to win anywhere you go. No matter where you’re playing, you’ve got to win. I didn’t want to do it (move), but I had to. It’s life. Once you make the change, you know you’re not going back and get ready for it. You’ve just got to lace up your cleats. I’ve got to play for the logo on my chest.”
Oxford High, whose head coach is the son of 40-year coach David Cutcliffe, who retired in March, was 5-1 this past season when Kiffin took over full-time at quarterback.
He came off the bench in a 43-42 victory over Germantown, completing six of seven passes for 134 yards and a touchdown.
Kiffin directed the Chargers to five straight victories, including a pair of state playoffs wins over Hernando and Horn Lake, to earn another opportunity against Tupelo, which they lost to, 20-13, on Sept. 19.
Kiffin was 9 of 16 for 186 yards and two touchdowns in a 33-23 win over Clinton and passed for 197 yards (on 9 of 16 attempts and four touchdowns in a 27-21 triumph over Starkville.
He surpassed 200 passing yards in a 37-27 playoff win over Horn Lake, completing 12 of 20 attempts, with a touchdown to go with 76 yards and another score on eight rushing attempts.
Kiffin threw all three of his touchdowns for a 20-7 halftime lead over Tupelo, who rallied in the second half for a one-point victory.
“Coach Cut’s so great and has a great mind,” Kiffin said of his coach. “From day one, he was coaching me up and really made me a better player. Helped me for my future, and I’ve soaked in all of the things he taught me.”
Kiffin explained that he went through a much more rapid adjustment at Oxford after moving that summer from Palos Verdes High, where he was the backup quarterback and didn’t play as a freshman.
“It’s a culture shock for sure,” he said. “There’s so many people in California. Oxford was great. The people, the program at Oxford High, I couldn’t complain. Coach Cut was perfect. They welcomed me, too. It was awesome, but Oxford to Louisiana was a little closer than California.”
U-High went 10-3 in 2025 and advanced to the Division II select semifinals. The Cubs lost at eventual state champion St. Charles Catholic, 34-27, and graduated senior quarterback Ethan McGlynn, whose 73% completion rate (135 of 185) included 1,632 yards and 22 TDs and only two interceptions.
Martin was set to rely on a rising junior and sophomore for the vacant quarterback position when the junior transferred to Holy Cross in New Orleans.
Kiffin’s arrival in January helped to solve the team’s vacancy at the most critical position on the field.
“I didn’t know what we were getting,” Martin said. “All that I saw was some of the stuff online. A lot of the plays will be similar in some ways, but with different terminology. He’s had to learn our terminology. He’s getting the reads down. He’s picked up on it pretty fast.
“He’s really a student of the game,” Martin said. “He’s been all about learning and trying to figure out the way that we do it and has been executing at a pretty high level. That shows me he’s done work on Hudl, a lot of work at our install packages, and making sure he knows what’s going on before he gets out there.”
Kiffin attributes his growth to tapping into some of the resources available to him through his father’s job.
Not only can he sit and watch him with his father, but the younger Kiffins have the luxury of being around the quarterbacks his dad coached while at Ole Miss, such as Jaxson Dart, a first-round pick of the New York Giants, and senior Trinidad Chambliss, who will be a candidate for this year’s Heisman Trophy.
“We watch film sometimes after practice when he’s free,” Kiffin said of his father. “I watch film with their (LSU) guys, and they help me, tell me what I should and shouldn’t do. They give me pointers and keys. I can ask questions whenever.
“You’ve just got to soak it in,” Kiffin said. “You’ve got to apply it to your game. Examine what great players are doing and try to put into your game. You try as hard as you can to look the part in front of them, being your best around those guys, and being able to use what they do in your game.”
A look at Kiffin’s eight-game highlight package in 2025 shows a quarterback with good pocket presence, a strong arm, and the ability to keep plays alive with his scrambling ability.
“I’m a dual threat guy,” he said. “Being able to hurt the defense with my legs and hurt them with my arm, of course. If I need to run, I can. I’m accurate and can take the game over and be a leader. I’m going to keep working, and it’s going to come over time. I’m still young.”
Kiffin said he operated Oxford’s ‘Air Raid’ system, made popular by former head coach Mike Leach. He was exclusively in the shotgun and often relied on play-action to set up receivers down field.
The transition to U-High will feature most of a ‘systematic’ approach with a potent ground game led by run senior Corbin Odell (192-581-11 in 2025), with screen passes mixed in to set up deeper routes.
“I think we’ve had a good start,” Kiffin said. “I have to keep working and building up, and I think we’ll be fine and going into the season, I think we’ll be a really good team.”
Martin’s been impressed with Kiffin’s athleticism and quickness.
“He’s very mobile,” he said. “He’s a very athletic player. He can keep you honest in the run game, which is so big at this level. To have a guy that’s mobile and move a little bit, he checks all of those boxes.”
U-High’s final practice of the spring concluded up on its game field with players dressed in helmets and shoulder pads with no tackling. The Cubs’ personnel was thinned somewhat because of the track team’s recent state championship performance and the start of the baseball team’s Division III best-of-three state championship series that eventually went to Newman in three games.
U-High opened with three series of 7-on-7 where Kiffin completed 4 of 11 passes for 62 yards and 30-yard TD to Emmanuel Moses, followed by a two-point pass to junior Kevin Smith, the son of LSU running backs coach Kevin Smith.
The younger Smith also played with Kiffin at Oxford, where he was the team’s third-leading receiver in ’25 with 38 catches for 783 yards (20.6 per catch) and nine touchdowns.
“I heard he was a great quarterback at Oxford, and seeing him there and throwing us passes, it’s a good thing,” Grisby said, who picked up a scholarship offer from LSU last week as a defensive back. “It’s a blessing having him back there. We’ve built a great connection this spring.”
Once the scrimmage moved to the team portion, played in front of approximately 500 people, Kiffin enjoyed a solid series of 15 plays, completing 5 of 7 passes for 55 yards. Odell, who later left after cramping up, rushed four times for 17 yards.
Sophomore Carson Nichols had the biggest defensive highlight with an interception on a tipped pass on Kiffin’s second throw of the third series, finding a clear path to the end zone had it been a traditional game.
Tamon Donald’s 20-yard gain moved U-High’s offense inside of midfield to the 30, and later caught a 10-yard pass from Kiffin out of the backfield. Kiffin threw an incomplete for Jayden Allen near the back of the end zone, followed by an incompletion into the end zone and a run play, in which he reversed his field, which was blown dead.
“It’s exciting,” Grisby said of Kiffin’s addition. “Last season we ended up short in the semifinals, but this season I think we can take it really far with this new group of guys.”
Kiffin, who was 18 of 32 for 209 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, showed off his arm strength on the first play of the final series.
He connected with Smith on a 50-yard bomb along the sideline, with Smith later making a touchdown grab toward the back of the end zone.
“Just his knowledge of the game is impressive,” Martin said. “He’s got a very high football IQ, which you would hope for with him being a coach’s son. The ball really flies out of his hand. He’s a lot more athletic than I thought he’d be.
“I think he’s got a better idea of things because it was all very new to him when he got here,” Martin said. “He’s done a good job of moving around to different groups in the weight room, trying to meet people, to fit in with a group. It takes time. I can see some good things happening.”
Kiffin, who’s benefitted from the insight of both his father and grandfather Monte, an NFL defensive guru and Super Bowl champion, looks forward to attending more quarterback showcase events, along with the offseason work with his teammates that will include the start of the Robert Graves Metro 7-on-7 League on June 3.
“Competition’s great,” Kiffin said. “I don’t try and compare myself. Just being at those camps are great to see where you line up against the top guys. The focus is throwing for colleges, trying to get my name out there, and throw for different programs.”
Kiffin’s already taken part in The Opening in New Orleans, Rivals Elite camp in Houston, and is the quarterback for his Overtime 7-on-7 team. He looks forward throwing in front of college coaches, a process that began at the age of 5 or 6 with his father, and has resulted in scholarship offers from Arkansas State, California, Murray State, SMU, FIU, San Diego State, Sacramento State, and Washington.
“That’s the main goal,” he said of working toward building his own identity. “Just being Knox Kiffin, not Lane Kiffin’s son. I’ve got to be able to prove that, throw in front of these guys and have them see me, and once I do that, I think there’ll be a big jump.”