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Lane Kiffin’s highly dramatic and long-drawn-out departure from Ole Miss to LSU has sent shock waves through college football and the SEC this week. On Monday, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy spoke candidly about the move, blasting Kiffin for leaving the Rebels ahead of their first College Football Playoff appearance in school history.
“Lane Kiffin is who Lane Kiffin is,” Portnoy said flatly. “At some point, Lane Kiffin is going to leave your football city with the town burning in the rearview mirror, and you can’t act surprised. … [It] does not make it proper, does not imply he is an excellent man. He is not.
“He makes it infinitely worse for the individuals who hate him by the best way he acts on [social media], and the issues he says, and attempting to be cutesy.”
Kiffin spent the previous six seasons with the Rebels, main them to double-digit-win seasons in 4 of the six and three of the previous 4. He led Ole Miss to an 11-1 file this season, marking the primary 11-win season in program historical past. The momentous eleventh win was a 38-19 victory over in-state rival Mississippi State within the Egg Bowl on Friday night time, which all however secured a spot within the CFP. Ole Miss’ highest-ranked win this season got here towards then-No. 4 LSU in Week 5.
The saga surrounding Kiffin’s resolution to remain or to go away reportedly centered round whether or not he can be allowed to proceed to educate the Rebels within the CFP. Kiffin mentioned that Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter denied his request.
Kiffin’s time on the helm in Oxford was marked by program development and a return to nationwide prominence, turning the Rebels into one of many SEC’s prime groups. On his technique to the airport, Kiffin advised ESPN that he was pleased with his six seasons at Ole Miss however knew it was time for a “new chapter,” including that his “coronary heart was” in Oxford however that he wished to grab the chance.
Portnoy wasn’t shopping for it.
“The whole lot he does infuriates someone who does not like him,” he mentioned.
LSU reportedly provided Kiffin a seven-year deal price round $100 million, making him one of many highest-paid coaches in faculty soccer. Since arriving in Baton Rouge, Kiffin has already posted twice on social media — a photograph of a tiger captioned with the tiger emoji and two pictures from LSU’s trophy room with a CFP Nationwide Championship Trophy and Jayden Daniels’ Heisman Trophy in plain sight.
LSU completed the 2025 season 7-5 and fired head coach Brian Kelly after a 5-3 begin, ending a three-plus-year stint.
This shall be Kiffin’s fifth faculty soccer head-coaching stint (Tennessee, USC, FAU, Ole Miss and LSU) and his third within the SEC (Tennessee, Ole Miss and LSU).
Pete Golding, Kiffin’s defensive coordinator at Ole Miss, was named as his everlasting alternative.
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