Kiffin's ambitious move to LSU is defensible, but his self-serving antics created unnecessary drama, leaving his players caught in a power struggle.
As Lane Kiffin ushers in a new era of college football with the LSU Tigers, he does so with his legacy in a bit of shambles as he deals with the consequences of his own actions. In a historic season for the Ole Miss Rebels, he somehow managed to make it all about him for the last month, and that was illustrated through his farewell message on X where he painted himself as a victim of his own demise.
“I was hoping to complete a historic six season run,” the statement reads, noting his team’s “commitment to finish strong,” but that his request was denied by athletic director Keith Carter. He adds that the team also asked him to continue on. Whether or not that’s true, it’s delusional at best to expect a competing interconference rival to allow him to remain on staff while actively recruiting for the LSU Tigers. That’s without the reports that he allegedly threatened to take his entire staff with him and leave the Rebels in the dust if they wouldn’t allow him to stay. Remind us how that benefits the kids whatsoever? It all but made them pawns in a power struggle where if Kiffin were to lose out, he was threatening to leave them without a single appropriate leader.
No one should fault a coach for taking an opportunity that he sees as a better one, especially when it comes with a massive pay raise, as he stands to be the second-highest paid coach in college football with a seven-year, $91 million deal. But when you make adult decisions, you need to live with the consequences of those. Kiffin was unwilling to do the latter and seemed astonished that he wouldn’t be able to have his cake and eat it too.
There’s no way to sugarcoat it. He abandoned his team during their first College Football Playoff run. In doing so, he indirectly made it clear that he thought he couldn’t win a championship with Ole Miss – including this year’s historic team. Coaches love money, but every one of them is in this sport to win it all, should they want to be one of the best. If Kiffin truly thought that best opportunity existed with the Rebels, then there’s no world where he heads out the door.
By dragging this out, that stood to benefit no one but Kiffin, who was hoping that he could call Carter’s bluff and not be pushed out. If he didn’t intend to leave, he simply wouldn’t have. In his introductory press conference on Monday afternoon with the Tigers, Kiffin made pointed statements: “somebody told me this week that LSU is the best job in football,” and that “this place [LSU] is different. That’s why I’m here.”
The reasons for why weren’t made clear by Kiffin, but it’s clear that he sees it as a step up in his coaching career. He also indirectly hinted at Nick Saban – who was one of the pundits on TV saying he should be allowed to coach through the playoff despite firing him on his staff when he took another job elsewhere – privately telling him to take the Tigers job.
"Coach Saban coached at another place in this conference, so I can't say exactly what he said,” Kiffin said. “But I think the world of Coach Saban, I respect him, and there's a reason I'm here."
And while many would understand it being a monetary decision, Kiffin went out of his way to shoot that down and said that he told his agent Jimmy Sexton not to tell him any numbers to base his decision off of. So, it’s clear that it’s not about the contract, but the opportunity that Ole Miss allegedly couldn’t give him. He went with the words of his mentors, who told him that the Tigers are “the best job in America with the best resources.”
That would all be fine if it was handled with maturity throughout the process. Instead, Kiffin used up most of the goodwill he had and won’t have anyone feeling sorry for him should things not work out at LSU.