College football’s strangest coaching tree begins with a gorilla in Cincinnati and ends with LSU head coach Lane Kiffin.
Yes, Harambe can be connected to Kiffin in exactly six documented steps:
Harambe → Sam Hubbard → Joe Burrow → Ed Orgeron → Pete Carroll → Steve Sarkisian → Lane Kiffin
No message-board conspiracy is required. Here is how it works.
1. Harambe to Sam Hubbard
The first connection is cultural, not personal.
During Cincinnati’s run to Super Bowl LVI in February 2022, Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard was asked whether the team was trying to win for Harambe.
“That’s our guy,” Hubbard said. “That’s our hero. I think that’s known. It kind of goes without saying. We’re doing this for him.”
The chain was officially alive.
2. Sam Hubbard to Joe Burrow
Hubbard and Burrow were teammates at Ohio State before being reunited with the Bengals.
Their connection went beyond football. After Hubbard’s 98-yard playoff touchdown against Baltimore in January 2023, Burrow called him “one of my best friends” and praised his habit of producing important plays.
Hubbard carries the chain from Harambe directly to LSU’s greatest quarterback.
3. Joe Burrow to Ed Orgeron
Burrow transferred to LSU in 2018 and played his final two seasons under head coach Ed Orgeron.
In 2019, they led LSU to a 15–0 record, an SEC championship and the College Football Playoff national championship. Burrow won the Heisman Trophy after throwing an NCAA-record 60 touchdown passes.
This is where the Harambe timeline enters LSU history.
4. Ed Orgeron to Pete Carroll
Before winning a national championship at LSU, Orgeron coached at USC under Pete Carroll.
Carroll retained Orgeron when he took over the Trojans in 2001. Orgeron coached the defensive line, coordinated recruiting and later added assistant head coach responsibilities. He remained at USC through the 2004 championship season.
5. Pete Carroll to Steve Sarkisian
Sarkisian coached under Carroll at USC during two separate periods.
He returned in 2005 as assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach. That USC staff was packed with future head coaches—and one of them was already working beside Sarkisian.
6. Steve Sarkisian to Lane Kiffin
Sarkisian and Kiffin coached together at USC from 2001 through 2003 and again in 2005 and 2006.
In 2005, Sarkisian coached the quarterbacks while Kiffin served as offensive coordinator, recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach. Both eventually became SEC head coaches, with Sarkisian landing at Texas and Kiffin completing the chain at LSU.
There are shorter routes. Orgeron and Kiffin also worked together at USC and Tennessee, but shortcuts would ruin the assignment.
So there it is: six degrees, seven names, one gorilla and an LSU head coach.
College football remains completely normal.
LSU Football Report 