LSU coach Lane Kiffin wasn’t going to risk playing star tight end Trey’Dez Green longer than necessary in a win at Auburn, partially because he had concerns about the way Auburn’s defenders were tackling the 6-foot-7, 237-pound pass catcher.
“Fortunately, he didn’t get hurt worse when they were trying to hip-drop tackle him,” Kiffin said Sunday in a teleconference with reporters. “That was unfortunate, and (Green) was really concerned about that. So we actually took him out.”
A hip-drop tackle involves a defender wrapping their arms around a ball carrier’s waist and then dropping their own body weight on an offensive player’s legs as they are dragging them to the ground.
The tackling technique has not been banned in college football, though the NCAA Rules Committee did discuss outlawing the move in 2024 after the NFL prohibited it.
Green had just returned for No. 15 LSU (6-2, 3-2 SEC) on Saturday after missing four games with a knee injury, which was sustained after he took an Ole Miss helmet to that knee late in the Sept. 19 contest.
Despite having a brace on his right leg, Green had five catches for 50 yards and a touchdown in LSU’s 38-17 victory at Jordan-Hare Stadium, which was the program’s widest margin of victory over Auburn on the road.
“I made the analogy of, like, when you go offshore fishing, you got really good bait and tackle, you feel a lot better before you even get out there,” Kiffin said. “You got confidence, like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna catch something today,’ you know?”
Kiffin was pleased to see Green return, because he had admittedly been “freaked out” by the number of injuries LSU was sustaining earlier in the season.
Safety Dashawn Spears is out for the year with a knee injury, and star linebacker Whit Weeks remains sidelined with a lower-leg injury. Green played, but Kiffin said he was not 100% healthy and “still kind of limping and pushing through.”
In fact, Kiffin was somewhat regretful Sunday when he was asked about subbing in some of LSU’s first-team defenders in the fourth quarter at Auburn because there was a desire to preserve a second-half shutout.
Auburn ultimately scored a garbage time touchdown to negate that effort.
“There were a couple right behind me that were getting pissed that our backups were letting them go down the field. So they asked me … and I let them go back in, knowing that we had a bye the next week,” Kiffin said. “But maybe I shouldn’t have.”
At the same time, Kiffin said he liked the mentality of his players.
“That’s how we’re trying to build a highly competitive program that guys want to think that way,” he added. “They want to get back in there. They want to play. They want to preserve good defensive days like that.”
LSU will rest up this week in preparation for a Nov. 7 home contest against No. 10 Alabama, which could go a long way towards keeping the No. 15 Tigers in the College Football Playoff discussion. The Crimson Tide also have an open date on Oct. 31.
A familiar name on LSU’s side
Kiffin considers Pete Carroll, who hired him at USC in the early 2000s, one of his greatest mentors.
Now there’s a Carroll working with LSU.
Kiffin confirmed Sunday that Nate Carroll, the son of the former USC and Seattle Seahawks head coach, has been helping the Tigers’ offensive staff. The younger Carroll worked as an assistant for his father with the Seahawks from 2011-23.
Carroll was with the Carolina Panthers in 2024 as a passing game coordinator and then served as an assistant quarterbacks coach for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025.
“Nate came to us late during training camp,” Kiffin said, “kind of learned some stuff on offense and then really, really liked it. So he’s been helping us out and done a really good job getting along with the offensive coaches and really fitting well.”
Kiffin couldn’t resist joking about adding a former pro coach, given his problems with the SEC when he contemplated rostering a pair of players who previously signed contracts with NFL teams.
“We didn’t add him to the roster because he (wasn’t) officially addable because he was a pro guy,” Kiffin said, laughing.
Leavitt and Burrow stat
Sam Leavitt is playing so well, he just joined with one of LSU’s quarterbacking legends in a factoid.
Leavitt became the second player in LSU history to complete 30-plus passes in back-to-back games, connecting with teammates 32 times against Auburn after a 31-completion day against Mississippi State.
The only other quarterback to do it: Joe Burrow, who had three straight games with 30-plus completions during his 2019 Heisman season.
“Which is really unusual, because they’re both blowout wins,” Kiffin said of Leavitt’s efforts in games won by a total of 52 points. “A lot of times you get those when you’re trailing, you have to come back late in a game.”
Burrow’s three games with 30-plus completions came in a 23-20 win over Auburn, a 46-41 victory at Alabama, and a 58-37 result at Ole Miss. This was the season before Kiffin, who was at FAU in 2019, became the Rebels’ head coach.
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