LSU head football coach Lane Kiffin was candid about his drinking problem, revealing that it took a toll on his personal life in an interview published by Vanity Fair on Monday.
Kiffin, who’s been sober since January 2021, explained that booze damaged his marriage with wife, Layla, and attributed it to their 2016 divorce.
“My whole drive when I was younger was like, How fast can I get everything? How fast can I get the big job? The big contract?” Kiffin, 51, said. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve tried to work on that, making decisions that are more delayed gratification…I got tired of digging out of hangovers, tired of digging out of situations or things I said.”
Kiffin lived recklessly during his early years in coaching, pounding beers before he developed a taste for vodka, according to Vanity Fair.
The coach announced the couple’s divorce while he was the Alabama offensive coordinator, telling Fox Sports at the time that their split was a mutual decision, and co-parenting their three kids was their priority.
Kiffin made significant life changes while rebuilding the football program at Ole Miss, where he compiled a 55-19 record over six seasons from 2000 to November 2025 before he left to become head coach at LSU.
Kiffin quit drinking alcohol in January 2021 and adopted hot yoga and pickleball, dropping about 45 pounds.
In August 2024, he told ESPN that he took up journaling and shared an entry with an excerpt from Alcoholics Anonymous: “Ego was being replaced with self-respect, resentment and hatred were being replaced with tolerance and understanding.”
Kiffin and Layla stirred reconciliation rumors during a trip to New York City in December 2024, and reportedly rekindled their relationship sometime in 2025.
Last March, Kiffin appeared to hard-launch their reunion and shared a photo of Layla on his Instagram Story with a home emoji.
Layla eventually moved to Oxford as they picked back up their life together.
Kiffin has since publicly shared photos with Layla and their kids, daughters Landry, 21, and Presley,19, and son Monte Knox, 17.
Kiffin celebrated five years of sobriety in January, and explained that his decision to give up booze changed his life in a post on X, which included a snapshot of him and Layla.
Kiffin has been open about his sobriety in the media and on social media.
He shared an Instagram Story Sunday about sharing a bank account with Layla.
“She put up with me and [is an] awesome mother to my three children. Why wouldn’t I share it with her???” Kiffin wrote, including a quote by Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who previously said that he and his ex-wife have a shared bank account.
