Lane Kiffin and the LSU Tigers are showing no mercy in the final hours of the transfer portal window. With their minds set on protecting the No. 1 transfer quarterback in college football — Sam Leavitt — Kiffin and the Tigers are now pursuing a talent currently committed to Bill Belichick and the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Belichick may be an inspiration to Kiffin and every head coach in the nation. However, when it comes to college football, the latter has been around the business for much longer than the former. On that note, LSU’s 34th head coach in program history might be on track to teach the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach a lesson.
North Carolina earned a commitment from Baylor transfer Sean Thompkins and may have called it a day, going away to rest on its laurels. However, in today’s NCAA that is a huge mistake. Now, reports indicate Kiffin and LSU have swooped in, and all signs indicate Thompkins could be flipping his commitment real soon.
“LSU is hosting Baylor transfer offensive lineman Sean Thompkins,” as reported by On3’s The Bengal Tiger. “Thompkins is set to be on campus Thursday and Friday.” Spending two days in Baton Rouge may be all she wrote for Belichick and UNC’s hope to land the redshirt junior in Chapel Hill for the 2026 NCAA season.
HC Bill Belichick of the University of North Carolina
About Thompkins
Thompkins was a three-star recruit coming out of Newton High School in Covington, Georgia. As he makes up his mind in his next destination in college football, the 6’5” who can play at both guard and tackle has two years of eligibility remaining.
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Lane Kiffin, LSU witness departing talent transfer amid Sam Leavitt’s arrival
Thompkins redshirted his freshman year and has appeared in 12 games for the Baylor Bears (1 in 2024 and 11 in 2025). Thompkins committed to North Carolina on early January, but that decision is now being revisited as Kiffin and LSU came knocking.
Keeping Leavitt away from danger
Signing Leavitt was a major victory for Kiffin and LSU this offseason, but it represents only the first step in their plan. If the Tigers are serious about competing for a national title in the 2026 college football season, they must surround the Arizona State transfer with key weapons and strong protection. That is now the primary focus in Baton Rouge.
So far, Kiffin has landed top transfers from across the country, with several coming directly from Oxford, Mississippi. However, the work is far from finished. While the transfer portal window closes on January 16 for most programs, teams that reached the College Football Playoff receive an additional five-day window. As a result, Kiffin and the Tigers will be closely monitoring players from top programs who enter the portal.
