Lane Kiffin's stunning departure from Ole Miss to LSU ignites a chaotic Sunday, with five SEC coaching vacancies filled in a dramatic, fast-paced carousel.
Every time a college football coach got fired this fall, Lane Kiffin's name came up as a potential replacement. Everyone wanted the Ole Miss coach — including the Rebels, who's administration begged him to stay.
Kiffin and the Rebels have a historic season going, the first 11-win campaign in school history. They are almost certainly headed to the postseason playoffs for the first time ever. But now they'll do that without Kiffin, who announced on Sunday that he was leaving for a massive contract at LSU.
Kiffin also said he wanted to coach Ole Miss through the end of the season. Rebels athletic director Keith Carter told him to hit the bricks. Before Kiffin's plane even took off, Ole Miss replaced him with defensive coordinator Pete Golding, and not on an interim basis. He was signed to a long-term deal.
Kiffin told ESPN's Marty Smith that he wanted to stay in Oxford through the end of the season, but Carter — with full backing of the Ole Miss administration — said no. Kiffin was leaving for an SEC rival, and will certainly work hard to poach coaches and players from Ole Miss.
"This was a very challenging, difficult day," Kiffin told ESPN's Smith during a one-on-one interview at the airport on Sunday. "We went through a lot last night with Keith Carter trying to figure out a way to make this playoff run work and be able to coach the team. And at the end of the day, that's his decision and I totally respect that. I understand that decision.
"I just totally wish the team the best of luck, wish that I was coaching. ... I just hope they play really well and go win the national championship."
Ole Miss was 11-1 and 7-1 in the SEC, and finished in a four-way tie for first place with Georgia, Alabama and Texas A&M. They lost out on the tiebreakers to make their first-ever SEC Championship Game — Alabama plays Georgia on Saturday — but seem to be a lock for the 12-team College Football Playoff. They were ranked No. 7 in last Tuesday's CFP poll, and beat rival Mississippi State 38-19 on Friday in the Egg Bowl.
With Kiffin off to LSU and Golding taking over at Ole Miss, every other SEC opening got filled on Sunday, too, although sources were reporting on Sunday night that Kentucky might be moving on from Mark Stoops as well. He's been the Wildcats coach for 13 years, and has won more games there than anyone.
Here's who got hired, and who they replaced.
FLORIDA GATORS: The Gators, moving on from Billy Napier, hired Tulane coach Jon Sumrall as its next head coach. Sumrall's team is 10-2 this season and hosting the American Athletic Conference Championship Game on Friday night, with the winner likely making the CFP. Sumrall is staying with his Tulane team through the end. Sumrall, a former Kentucky player, coached two years at Troy and two at Tulane, reaching the conference title game in all four years. He is 42-11 all-time and went 7-1 in conference games all four seasons.
AUBURN TIGERS: The Tigers also went to the American to get their next coach, hiring Alex Golesh from South Florida. Golesh and the Bulls went 9-3 this season, and he was hired to replace Hugh Freeze. Auburn finished 5-7 this season, but just 1-7 in the SEC. Golesh has been the head coach at South Florida since 2023 and prior to that, he served as offensive coordinator for Tennessee.
ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS: Arkansas was already familiar with Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield, because his Tigers team beat Arkansas in Fayetteville earlier this year. They hired him on Sunday, replacing Sam Pittman. Silverfield was at Memphis for six years and went 50-25 with the Tigers. The win over Arkansas in September was the last of four consecutive wins against Power 4 opponents, including West Virginia and Iowa State in bowl games the past two seasons.
All of these job openings helped other successful SEC coaches get contract extension and hefty raises. Missouri worked out a new six-year deal with Eli Drinkwicz and Vanderbilt extended Clark Lea for another six years as well.