Despite New Orleans being just a 90-minute drive from Baton Rouge, Kim Mulkey noticed a dearth of local media members in attendance for the fifth-ranked LSU women’s basketball team’s 101-71 victory over Tulane on Monday night.
It didn’t take long for the Tigers head coach to diagnose the reason why.
“I see who’s here,” Mulkey said. “I know y’all back home, trying to figure out if we’re going to hire Lane Kiffin. ‘Ooh, gotta get the first news.'”
“Ya’ll back at home trying to figure out if we gone hire Lane Kiffin!” #LSU coach Kim Mulkey on Baton Rouge media not being in New Orleans 😂 pic.twitter.com/4Bx0nx6MKW
— CHAMPSIDE (@theCHAMPSIDE) November 18, 2025
There is likely some truth in the four-time national champion head coach’s theory.
When it comes to covering college athletics, there is perhaps no busier time on a beat than during a football head coaching search. Especially when it involves one of the nation’s most high profile programs pursuing one of the country’s most famous head coaches, just as LSU has been doing with Kiffin since parting ways with Brian Kelly in late-October.
What’s more is that the Tigers aren’t only one team trying to hire Kiffin, as Florida has also targeted the Ole Miss head coach as Billy Napier’s replacement. And that’s something that wasn’t lost on Mulkey, who used the Gators’ interest to jab the media members who weren’t in attendance at Tulane.
“I hate to tell you, Lane was at Gainesville yesterday,” she said.
Mulkey’s comment was presumably in reference to the reports that Kiffin’s family visited Gainesville — and Baton Rouge — earlier this week. For what it’s worth, Lane reportedly wasn’t on either trip and has maintained that he remains focused on his current program’s 2025 campaign.
“It just couldn’t be better. Like I said, you pray for things. Our fans prayed for this type of thing and now we’re in the middle of it, so enjoy it,” Kiffin said on Tuesday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show. “You’re 10-1, you’re getting ready, you’ve got a bye week, you get to watch half the country lose — and there’s no way we can lose Saturday. And then you play the Egg Bowl and go dominate that and keep that Egg Bowl trophy home where it’s been for a long time.”
As for where Kiffin will be in 2026, that remains to be seen. But until that’s figured out, Mulkey can likely count on having fewer questions to answer after each of her team’s games.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.