LSU pledge Lamar Brown, the No. 1 prospect in the 2026 ESPN 300, is not expected to sign during the early signing period this week, sources confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday night.
Brown, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound defensive tackle from Erwinville, Louisiana, remains verbally committed to the Tigers. Per ESPN sources, Brown intends to wait for newly hired coach Lane Kiffin to assemble his LSU coaching staff before signing, placing an air of uncertainty over the nation's top recruit on the eve of the 2026 early signing period.
News of Brown's plans to hold on signing this week was first reported by Rivals.com.
Brown has been the cornerstone of the Tigers' 2026 class since he committed to LSU over Texas A&M and Miami on July 10. Despite flip efforts from the Aggies and Hurricanes, Brown maintained his pledge following coach Brian Kelly's firing in October and met with Kiffin shortly after the former Ole Miss coach landed on campus Sunday.
If Brown signs with the Tigers, he'll be the program's first No. 1 prospect since Leonard Fournette in 2014.
Kiffin, who brought six assistants to LSU from Ole Miss, is assembling his new coaching staff. Brown, who attends high school on the LSU campus, holds particularly close relationships with Tigers defensive coordinator Blake Baker and interim coach Frank Wilson, whose respective futures with the program remain uncertain. Kiffin said Wilson would continue as interim coach through bowl season during his introductory news conference Monday.
Brown is considered one of the linchpins of LSU's 2026 class, which began Tuesday at No. 15 in ESPN's latest class rankings for the cycle before Kiffin landed his first trio of commits with the Tigers.
Former Ole Miss tight end pledge JC Anderson (No. 165 overall) became the first commit of the Kiffin era in Baton Rouge, when he flipped to LSU on Tuesday afternoon. Three-star center Ryan Miret, another former Ole Miss pledge, and four-star wide receiver Brayden Allen, who recently pulled his commitment from Oklahoma, soon followed into the Tigers' 2026 class.
Those additions coincided with the Tuesday afternoon decommitment of four-star wide receiver Kenny Darby, who had been committed to LSU since November 2024.