The Ole Miss Rebels are preparing for the Fiesta Bowl without clarity on their coaching staff.
It frankly feels like there was no plan for the No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels if they were to beat the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs and advance to the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, but that’s exactly what they’ll do on Thursday to face the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes. There, of course, are obvious obstacles that there isn’t really a solution for. Former Rebels coach Lane Kiffin is taking several of his staff members with him to the LSU Tigers. While he wasn’t able to remain on staff and lead his team through the College Football Playoff, those staffers were.
Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., tight ends coach and co-offensive coordinator Joe Cox, wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator George McDonald and running backs coach Kevin Smith all are going with Kiffin to coach the Tigers and are under contract. But the transfer portal opened on Friday, Jan. 2, and will close on Jan. 16. The players who are going to garner a big pay day aren’t going to wait to enter, and LSU will want to land their top targets, which is hard to do without those coaches on campus for their official visits.
However, what is Ole Miss supposed to do without an entire offensive coaching staff? Weis Jr. calls plays, and has indicated that he plans to finish the playoff run with the Rebels, per Cole Cubelic. According to Heather Dinich of ESPN, new Ole Miss coach Pete Golding has said it’s up to the Tigers to decide how many of Kiffin’s assistants can remain on the Rebels staff through the playoff run that continues on Thursday.
Sources also told ESPN that all the offensive coaches under contract with LSU returned to the Baton Rouge campus Friday to host portal targets on official visits. It’s certainly a difficult strain on both staffs. But it feels ridiculous to have anything other than them remain on staff through the playoff run despite fears of tampering. Those coaches can certainly get in contact with players they want to take. And again, the players that have won two playoff games now are suffering with uncertainty. ESPN reports that Ole Miss isn’t sure at this point if they will have all those assistants on hand to face the Hurricanes.
"They have every opportunity like they have up to this point to be able to make that decision," Golding said on a CFP media videoconference. "So week in and week out, I don't dictate whether they do that or not, because they're not employed by me. Up to this point, that's how it's been, and that's my expectation."
ESPN further reports that assistants have tried to dig their heels in about not leaving, and effectively abandoning, a team two wins from a national championship. It’s clear that Golding doesn’t have clarity on the situation and is trying his best not to let that distract the players, saying that they “know what to do.” He’s certainly had an uphill battle succeeding Kiffin and having to deal with all this chaos amid a CFP championship run.
This sport has given a lot of agency to the players. All of that feels hollow if they allow them to not have a coaching staff when they have a chance at a national title through their decisions and work as a team.