Controversy enveloped Oxford, Miss., over the holiday weekend. After an impressive 38-19 victory over Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl on Friday, rumors began to swirl around Lane Kiffin's future with the program. Initially connected to Florida, Kiffin eventually found himself deep in negotiations with a more formidable (and deep-pocketed) SEC rival to the west: LSU.
The Tigers fired head coach Brian Kelly on Oct. 25, a day after a 49-25 beatdown at the hands of Texas A&M. LSU finished the season 7-5, with a troubling 3-5 record in conference play. That is unacceptable for the 2019 national champs. The Tigers are a proud program — and a recruitment juggernaut in the southeast. On the surface, it's no wonder why Kiffin would leap at the chance to coach in Baton Rouge, as if a $100 million contract needed any further explanation.
That said, his manner of leaving Oxford was ... less than ideal. It puts Ole Miss in an incredibly difficult position and sullies his reputation, which was complicated enough beforehand.
Lane Kiffin picked blackmail over a clean exit
It's no surprise that Kiffin left Ole Miss, but the way he left is downright embarrassing. Kiffin made an absurd request to coach the Rebels through the postseason. That would have allowed him to stick around the Ole Miss program for another few weeks, giving him a chance to recruit coaches, players and staffers to LSU. Of course, Rebs AD Keith Carter declined the request.
Kiffin's painted himself as the aggrieved party in his official statement, but c'mon man. You can't leave for another program — and especially not a conference rival — and expect to maintain full access to all offices, facilities and employees at your former school. Especially when Kiffin famously attempted to coach through the postseason as Alabama's OC after taking the Florida Atlantic head coaching job, only for Nick Saban to force him out the door due to a lack of focus.
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) November 30, 2025
In a perfect world, Kiffin just waits until after the season to commit to LSU. But clearly that was not an option. Rather than putting his foot down and standing on business, as the kids would say, Kiffin resorted to blackmail, threatening to poach the Rebels' offensive staff if he was unable to finish out the season. It sounds like he will yank coaches out of Oxford anyway, because of course he will. That's how this business works.
Pete Golding, Ole Miss' defensive coordinator since 2023, will be elevated to permanent head coaching duties for the Rebels. At least this feels like a short-term silver lining. Say what you will about Golding's résumé compared to other glitzier candidates, but Ole Miss is at least able to maintain some schematic continuity and locker room cohesion ahead of the playoffs. Plus: Golding has a chance to keep more recruits in Oxford, as opposed to hiring a completely new voice from outside the program.
What does Lane Kiffin's departure mean for Ole Miss' postseason goals?
Kiffin leaves Ole Miss after an incredible season, finishing 11-1. Their lone defeat came on the road against Georgia, 43-35 in Athens. The Rebels led 35-26 after three quarters in that game. Currently the No. 7 team in the country, Ole Miss could hypothetically move up even further in the postseason rankings after Texas A&M's loss to Texas.
There's a chance the CFP committee, as "impartial and subjective" observers, opt to dock Ole Miss as a result of Kiffin's departure. That's not exactly fair, but it's also completely reasonable to have more doubts about Ole Miss' chances of going the distance than one did a week ago. Kiffin — say what you will about his mixed bag of a career and his remarkable penchant for burning bridges — is a great coach. A singular offensive mind who has been ahead of the curve for the majority of his NCAA tenure. LSU paid him $100 million for a reason.
Golding, by comparison, is completely unproven in the head job. Ole Miss needed to prioritize stability, but there's no telling how the team responds to Golding's leadership. Especially under such unusual circumstances. Some payers might bolt for LSU in the coming days. Kiffin led the offense, so now the Rebels are left scrambling to find a play-caller. It's a complete mess.
Not all hope is lost for Ole Miss
Ole Miss averaged 498.1 yards of offense per game this season, third in college football behind North Texas and South Florida — neither of whom battled SEC competition on a regular basis. The Rebels offense has rarely stalled, only scoring below 30 points twice: a 24-21 win over Washington State and, ironically, a 24-19 win over LSU.
If the Rebels can keep their personnel intact and find a play-caller who extends from the Kiffin coaching tree, this Ole Miss squad can still press deep into the postseason. The talent is there. Ole Miss has the NCAA's seventh-best strength of record, so the résumé stacks up. In the SEC, frauds don't really exist. A single loss — a close road loss to UGA, no less — gives Ole Miss one of the most impressive bodies of work in college football.
Ideally, Ole Miss players feel the weight of the moment and decide to unite in the face of adversity. But there are NIL deals at stake and futures to consider. We can't really blame someone who takes his talents to Baton Rouge after originally coming to Oxford to play under Kiffin. And if that happens en masse, Kiffin probably prefers to get ink on the dotted line as soon as possible. This is the nature of college football in 2025. Nothing is set in stone, even when the playoffs are right around the corner.
The sheer magnitude of this distraction, even minus the potentially seismic personnel losses, could be enough to bump Ole Miss off course and doom their postseason pursuit. But, don't count out the Rebels entirely just yet. We all love an underdog story, and there'd be no greater narrative than Ole Miss rising above the noise to capture a national championship, perhaps giving a nice middle finger to Lane Kiffin from the mountaintop.
Rebels fans will use Kiffin's ugly departure as fuel. Hopefully the players (and the leftover coaches) follow suit.