There’s no better example of the butterfly effect than on the college football recruiting trail.
After weeks of chaos, Lane Kiffin on Sunday officially left Ole Miss to be the new head coach at LSU, and just hours later, the Oklahoma Sooners already lost a commitment because of it.
Brayden Allen decommits from Sooners
Hayes Fawcett of Rivals reported on Sunday that 2026 four-star wide receiver Brayden Allen decommitted from the Sooners with Early National Signing Day just three days away on Wednesday. Then, just moments after the news broke of Allen’s decision, Rivals recruiting experts Steve Wiltfong and Sam Spiegelman already had predictions logged for Allen to end up at LSU.
The Sooners initially landed Allen on Oct. 1 after flipping him from in-state Tulane. According to the 247Sports Composite, he’s the No. 60 wide receiver in the 2026 class and No. 13 overall prospect in the state of Louisiana out of Lafayette Christian Academy.
As a Louisiana native, LSU is Allen’s dream school. The Sooners had recently survived a scare from the Tigers after Allen visited LSU earlier this month, but shortly after the trip, Rivals reported that Allen was “locked in with Oklahoma.” However, that was in the midst of a coaching search at LSU and before the Tigers got their top target in Kiffin. The new stability at LSU (if Kiffin actually provides that) seemed to be enough for Allen to stay home.
However, the Sooners’ recent influx of talent at receiver was also probably a nudge out for Allen. OU had just one receiver in the class when Allen committed, but since, the Sooners have flipped two more four-star prospects in Jayden Petit from Wisconsin and Jahsiear Rogers from Penn State. OU also already had four-star Daniel Odom. All three are rated higher than Allen based on the 247Sports Composite.