Chris Kiffin
American football coach (born 1982)
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Chris Kiffin (born January 19, 1982) is an American football coach. He is currently the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for LSU. He served as an assistant coach for the Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also coached at Florida Atlantic, Ole Miss, Arkansas State, USC, Nebraska, and Idaho.
Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
| LSU Tigers | |
|---|---|
| Title | Co-defensive coordinator & linebackers coach |
| Personal information | |
| Born | January 19, 1982 Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Listed weight | 275 lb (125 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Sickles (Citrus Park, Florida) |
| College | Colorado State (2000–2004) |
| Career history | |
| |
Coaching career
Idaho
In 2005, Kiffin started his coaching career at Idaho as a coaching assistant. In 2006, Kiffin was hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an offseason quality control intern under head coach Jon Gruden.
Nebraska
In 2008, Kiffin was hired as a defensive quality control coach at Nebraska.
USC
In 2010, Kiffin was hired as a defensive assistant at USC.
Arkansas State
In 2011, Kiffin was hired as a defensive line coach at Arkansas State.
Ole Miss
In 2012, Kiffin was hired as a defensive line coach at Ole Miss.[1] He left in 2017 to join his brother.[2]
Florida Atlantic
In 2017, Kiffin was hired by his brother, Lane, at Florida Atlantic[3] as a defensive coordinator in 2016.[4] After a 1-3 start, FAU won its final 10 games, allowing 24 or fewer points in each of its final six games.[5]
Kiffin's defense included junior linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair and defensive backs Jalen Young and Shelton Lewis, both of whom were chosen First Team All-Conference USA. [6]
San Francisco 49ers
In 2018, Kiffin was hired by the San Francisco 49ers as their pass rush specialist coach under head coach Kyle Shanahan.[7]
Cleveland Browns
On February 13, 2020, Kiffin was hired by the Cleveland Browns as their defensive line coach under head coach Kevin Stefanski.[8] After the 2021 season, Kiffin left the Browns coaching staff to join the coaching staff at Ole Miss.[9] However, on February 10, 2022, Kiffin left Ole Miss returning to the Browns as a defensive line coach.[10]
Houston Texans
On February 14, 2023, Kiffin left the Cleveland Browns to become a linebackers coach with the Houston Texans.[11] Kiffin was fired a year later and replaced by Billy Davis.[12]
Ole Miss
On August 25, 2024, Kiffin joined the Ole Miss coaching staff as an analyst. In 2025, he became the defensive line coach and the recruiting coordinator of the defense.[13]
LSU
On December 22, 2025, Kiffin was announced as the Co-Defensive coordinator and Linebackers coach for LSU.
Personal life
Chris Kiffin is the son of longtime National Football League defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin[14] and his older brother is the LSU Tigers football head coach Lane.[15] Chris and his wife, Angela, have four children: daughters, Bella, Grace and Taylor, and a son, Christian. A native of Tampa, Florida, Chris played defensive tackle for Colorado State University.