Ole Miss Lane Kiffin heads to LSU, but can he win a championship with the Tigers?
Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin is moving to a new SEC school. Paul Meyerberg says LSU can win, but will they win?
White smoke came out! Lane Kiffin trades gloves and bayou.
Kiffin will leave Ole Miss football to coach at LSU.
Kiffin, who replaces Brian Kelly in Baton Rouge, made his decision two days after winning their third consecutive Egg Bowl, securing the Rebels’ first College Football Playoff berth and setting a program record with 11 wins. He will not coach Ole Miss’ CFP games. Defensive coordinator Pete Golding has been promoted to permanent head coach and will lead the Rebels in the CFP and beyond.
Golding signed a three-year contract extension this offseason, making him $2.55 million this season, pushing him onto the ladder of the SEC’s highest-paid assistants. The third-year defensive coordinator previously held the same position at No. 10 at Alabama, where he helped the Crimson Tide win the 2020 national championship.
“After much prayer and time with my family, I have made the difficult decision to accept the head coaching position at LSU,” Kiffin posted on social media Sunday at 3 p.m. “I wanted to lead Ole Miss to the playoffs, capitalize on the team’s incredible success and commitment to a strong finish, and complete a historic six seasons with this year’s team by investing everything in a playoff run with guardrails in place in every area of concern to protect the program.” Although I also asked Keith Carter to allow me to continue coaching so that the team could better maintain its high level of performance, my request to do so was denied. Unfortunately, that meant Friday’s Egg Bowl was my last game coaching the Rebels.
“While I look forward to a unique opportunity at LSU to start anew, I will forever cherish the six wonderful years I spent at Ole Miss and will do everything I can to help the team accomplish its mission and bring a championship to Oxford.”
LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry also posted a message on social media Sunday afternoon. This is what was written there:
“We are thrilled to have Coach Kiffin as the next head coach of the LSU football program. When we began this search, we shared that LSU would secure the best coach in the country, and Lane Kiffin is just that. Lane has a proven track record of success in an era of college athletics that requires coaches to adapt and innovate. A winner. His passion, creativity and integrity make him the ideal leader to lead LSU into the future and position us consistently among the sport’s elite. I would like to welcome Lane and his family to Baton Rouge, the search committee, and the university and state leadership for their critical support and advice throughout the process. ”
The day after Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter set a deadline to clarify Kiffin’s status, the Egg Bowl was rounded off as a decision date. According to ESPN’s Marty Smith, Kiffin visited the Ole Miss football facility on Saturday to plan the game against Georgia for the SEC Championship, and met with Carter and Ole Miss in the late afternoon and early evening. The obvious “impasse” was Kiffin’s desire to coach the Rebels in CFP.
A team meeting scheduled for Sunday at 10 a.m. ET was postponed to 2 p.m. as Ole Miss and LSU fans waited for news.
On Fox Big Noon Kickoff, Bruce Feldman reported Saturday morning that LSU offered Kiffin a seven-year contract worth “around $100 million.”
“I spoke with LSU officials this morning and they are very confident that Lane Kiffin will come to Baton Rouge and take the job with the Tigers.”
Feldman said the lure of coaching in a program where three of the past four coaches have recently won national titles may be “too tempting” for Kiffin to pass up.
Kiffin is in the final stages of his sixth season and has led the Rebels to a bowl game every season since joining in 2020. The Rebels did not appear in a bowl game in the four seasons before Kiffin arrived.
Ole Miss was paying Kiffin $9 million, according to a report from the USA TODAY Sports Network. This was the 10th highest paid coach salary in the nation.
Kiffin previously coached at Tennessee, the University of Southern California, Florida Atlantic and Ole Miss, coached the Oakland Raiders and was an assistant under Nick Saban at Alabama, where he built a reputation as an elite offensive mind and transfer portal recruiter.
How much does Lane Kiffin owe Ole Miss?
Lane Kiffin’s contract requires a $4 million penalty to terminate his contract by December 31, 2025.
Lane Kiffin’s record at Ole Miss
Since coming to Oxford, Kiffin has turned the Rebels into a college football powerhouse. He led Ole Miss to New Year’s Six bowl games in 2021 and 2023.
- 2020: 5-5 (new coronavirus)
- 2021: 10-3 (Sugar Bowl)
- 2022: 8 wins, 5 losses (Texas Bowl)
- 2023: 11-2 (Peach Bowl)
- 2024: 10-3 (Gator Bowl)
- 2025: 11-1
Clarion Ledger Ole Miss reporter Sam Hutchens contributed to this article.
