OXFORD, Miss. — They got here in droves, rushing into the parking zone of the tiny College-Oxford one-terminal airport, to say a last goodbye to Lane Kiffin.
They supplied a whole bunch of one-finger salutes, nearly in unison, and shouted expletives at Kiffin, who introduced Sunday he was formally leaving Ole Miss for LSU.
From offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. to Lane’s ex-wife Layla, anybody who dared step foot on the 2 non-public planes despatched from Baton Rouge acquired nothing however vitriol from spurned Ole Miss followers who so desperately wished to imagine Kiffin when he stated he had modified and located happiness of their small Mississippi faculty city. It was largely college-aged younger males decked out in New Balances, however there have been additionally a number of youngsters, together with one toddler wrapped in a blanket and sucking on a pacifier. It is by no means too early, in spite of everything, to show your youngsters it simply means extra.
By no means has there been something prefer it, followers letting unfastened all their anger and disappointment at a person who had gained 11 of his 12 regular-season video games this yr and had the Rebels all however assured to make the Faculty Soccer Playoff. After all, by no means had a coach left a crew with an actual likelihood to win a nationwide championship, nonetheless, both.
How might Kiffin depart now? How might he destroy a lot hard-earned goodwill, from the all-time low of being fired on the tarmac in 2013 to a person the Ole Miss fanbase and Oxford neighborhood liked and embraced as their hero?
To know how we acquired to Sunday’s wild scene in Oxford, CBS Sports activities spoke with quite a few sources with information of the behind-the-scenes decision-making course of that finally led to Kiffin changing into the following LSU soccer coach.
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The drama, coincidentally sufficient, cranked up into overdrive on a earlier Oxford airport expertise.
That was when a non-public airplane carrying a number of members of the Kiffin household, together with Layla Kiffin, was noticed arriving in Baton Rouge on Nov. seventeenth. It grew to become a significant nationwide storyline, left Ole Miss directors deeply uncomfortable about their head coach’s future intentions, and uncovered what had been within the works for weeks.
Kiffin and his illustration had privately been partaking with three potential suitors for weeks at this level. By the weekend of Ole Miss-Florida (Nov. 15), Kiffin knew he might keep at Ole Miss or depart for both Florida or LSU. Each the rival SEC suitors had made clear by that time that Kiffin was their No. 1 goal they usually have been prepared to make him one of many highest-paid coaches in faculty soccer.
It was then that Lane instructed his members of the family, together with his son Knox, that it was time to take journeys to Gainesville and Baton Rouge. Within the lead-up to these visits, varied factions and voices pulled Lane in several instructions. There have been some in his ear, together with CAA tremendous agent Jimmy Sexton, telling him that LSU supplied one of the best skilled alternatives. Others believed Florida gave him one of the best combine {of professional} and private happiness.
There was, frankly, rather a lot to love about Florida for Kiffin. He was an enormous Steve Spurrier fan and wore a visor in honor of the Head Ball Coach. His ex-wife Layla’s father, John Reaves, was a legendary former Florida quarterback. If the Kiffins all moved to Gainesville, Knox, a rising star quarterback at Oxford Excessive Faculty, might even play highschool soccer on the similar highschool, Buchholz, his mom attended.
Kiffin had lengthy been within the Florida job, even attempting and failing to get within the combine again in 2021 when Florida as a substitute employed Louisiana coach Billy Napier. After Florida fired Napier on Oct. 19 after a 22-23 document, it lastly arrange a possible marriage between Kiffin and the Gators.
There was just one drawback: the primary dialog between Kiffin and Florida AD Scott Stricklin didn’t go nicely, in accordance with a number of sources with information of the scenario. On the time, Florida was the most important job out there and had the perceived leverage to dictate a few of its phrases. That included wanting a basic supervisor with an NFL background who would not report on to Kiffin. This was a non-starter for Kiffin, who strongly believes within the skills of Ole Miss basic supervisor Billy Glasscock, and it acquired the pursuit off to a clumsy begin.
(Florida introduced Sunday it had employed former Jacksonville Jaguars basic supervisor Dave Caldwell along with its hiring of Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall.)
There was one thing simply beneath the floor, too. A number of sources acquainted with Stricklin’s pondering had lengthy solid doubt on his want ever to rent Kiffin, an excellent offensive thoughts with a penchant for stirring up drama. There was a purpose, in spite of everything, that his mom used to name him “Helicopter” rising up.
“He thrives on f—— with folks,” one long-time buddy stated. “You can’t start to know how a lot he enjoys that a part of it.”
Stricklin, a extra buttoned-up persona, had most popular Napier’s no-nonsense method over Kiffin’s antics the final time round.
IMAGN Photos
With the Florida booster base rallying round pursuing Kiffin, Stricklin did his due diligence and began vetting the Ole Miss coach earlier than firing Napier. The most important query he posed to those that knew Kiffin nicely was whether or not Lane had actually modified and grown up. The solutions Stricklin acquired made him snug sufficient to closely pursue him as the following Florida head coach.
Nonetheless, Kiffin was nicely conscious that he wasn’t Stricklin’s cup of tea, and the sensation was mutual. It was the form of factor that might have probably been overcome if there have been no different choices, however Ole Miss all however allowed him to do no matter he wished in Oxford and stored giving him increasingly more assets to push this system ahead. “He was by no means instructed no,” one supply stated. Kiffin was involved about Stricklin’s meddling and the way they might mesh, later telling confidants he had a “bizarre vibe” concerning the scenario.
After which got here LSU.
Kiffin delighted in beating Brian Kelly and LSU earlier this season, however even he could not have recognized what it will result in.
When LSU fired Kelly on Oct. twenty sixth and later AD Scott Woodward, it grew to become the story of school soccer. With Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry’s involvement in each Kelly’s and Woodward’s dismissals, it signaled to some that LSU lacked much-needed alignment and could possibly be topic to the governor’s future whims, doubtlessly hurting its capability to draw a high candidate.
Kiffin wasn’t a kind of folks, nevertheless. In reality, he knew that if Woodward had remained the athletic director, he was most unlikely to get the LSU job, in accordance with a number of sources. Woodward had instructed completely different folks he wasn’t the most important Kiffin fan.
New athletic director Verge Ausberry, lengthy a Woodward deputy, did not share these emotions. The preliminary dialog with LSU, particularly in distinction to the one he had with Stricklin and Florida, could not have gone higher for Kiffin.
As one supply acquainted with the dialog described, LSU’s pitch was: “Coach, we love you, we love what you have accomplished. No matter it’s you do, nevertheless it’s you do it, we simply need you to choose that up, convey it right here, we’ll fund it and let’s go.”
“Music to his ears,” is how Kiffin acquired the pitch.
Some in Kiffin’s camp imagine that had Florida made that very same pitch proper out of the gate, he might have ended up in Gainesville as a substitute. And had Stricklin moved on from Napier a yr earlier, as he thought of earlier than bringing him again for the 2025 season, a number of folks imagine Lane would have jumped at it following a 10-3 season that simply missed the playoff minimize.
Including to LSU’s momentum got here a pitch immediately from Louisiana Governor Landry, in accordance with a number of sources. It was a productive early November name for either side. It made Landry an enthusiastic supporter of LSU’s all-in pursuit of Kiffin, which included a seven-year cope with a mean wage of greater than $13 million and an escalator, ought to Kiffin win a nationwide title, that might make him the highest-paid coach within the nation. Landry had beforehand complained about Kelly’s $54 million buyout and initially vowed that LSU would not concern a contract like that once more.
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After the Kiffin household go to to Baton Rouge went nicely, there was appreciable optimism on LSU’s aspect that they might swipe Lane out of Oxford. One plugged-in supply even instructed CBS Sports activities that week, whereas nothing was formally accomplished, that essentially the most vital questions have been about public relations and an exit technique out of Ole Miss, not whether or not he’d be LSU’s subsequent coach. It was “very delicate with the Ole Miss aspect,” the supply stated, and Kiffin was “attempting to string the needle” to have the ability to take the LSU job and nonetheless coach Ole Miss within the playoff.
Kiffin by no means explicitly instructed Ole Miss he was leaving, although. In reality, a number of conversations between Ole Miss’s soccer coach and athletic director Keith Carter led the athletics director to imagine he’d keep.
It was what made attempting to foretell what Kiffin would achieve this troublesome for even those that knew him finest. He might inform one particular person one factor and one other the exact opposite. In latest weeks, there have been days his workers was all however positive he would depart for LSU after which the following day Lane would discuss how good that they had it in Oxford. Even these assured Kiffin would depart Ole Miss would often supply the caveat of him all however accepting the Auburn job in 2022, solely to again out on the final minute.
The Ole Miss administration, together with chancellor Glenn Boyce, did all the things in its energy to maintain Lane in Oxford. They have been prepared to match wage presents that he acquired elsewhere. They have been dedicated to sustaining a aggressive wage pool to draw and retain one of the best assistants. They believed a nationwide championship was attainable at Ole Miss and simply wished Lane to imagine it, too.
He finally might by no means get there, unable to withstand the siren name of a “blue blood.” Kiffin did not imagine he’d get a premier job once more, in accordance with those that know him nicely, not after he crashed and burned at USC. He had tried and failed through the years to get quite a few massive jobs that opened up, together with Florida, Miami, Texas A&M and Alabama, however might by no means get traction. He seemingly had an excessive amount of baggage for elite jobs, which most popular safer hires over the unpredictable Lane.
🎠 Lane Kiffin’s wild experience on the teaching carousel
| 12 months | Occasion | Notable Element |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Fired by Raiders | Proprietor Al Davis stated he was embarrassed to observe the crew play beneath Kiffin |
| 2010 | Left Tennessee for USC | Abrupt departure after one season sparked campus chaos |
| 2013 | Fired by USC | Fired on the airport and never allowed to experience the bus again to campus |
| 2016 | Did not End Season as Alabama OC | Accepted FAU job earlier than the CFP and did not coach within the nationwide title sport |
| 2025 | Leaving Ole Miss for LSU | Would be the first time a CFP participant performs with out its head coach |
When he out of the blue had two of one of the best jobs within the nation, Florida and LSU, combating over him, he could not resist. It appeared to paint the way in which he seen his present job, too, though he publicly stated he liked Ole Miss. He’d privately complain concerning the fanbase and whether or not this system’s latest success was sustainable, particularly in comparison with extra traditionally profitable applications like Florida and LSU. He locked in on what he thought have been disappointing residence crowds, telling some round him that did not occur in Baton Rouge and Gainesville.
He satisfied himself that Ole Miss supplied no extra safety than every other SEC job, together with the 2 pursuing him, which had simply fired their coaches after lower than 4 seasons. He introduced up the corollary to Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, who was beloved there for exceeding expectations at a usually extraordinarily difficult job. Stoops had accomplished so nicely at Kentucky that he even got here near getting the Texas A&M job in 2023 — the identical one Lane tried and didn’t get within the combine for — however trustees reportedly killed the deal.
Two years after nearly getting the A&M job, Kentucky fired Stoops on Monday after a few disappointing seasons.
Kiffin believed the identical might occur to him at Ole Miss if he went 7-5 or 6-6 in consecutive seasons. If he stayed and handed up the LSU job now, he stated he’d danger changing into Mark Stoops and lacking his likelihood at a giant job.
Ole Miss did its finest to dissuade Kiffin from this notion. For one, as they instructed him, he had by no means gained fewer than eight video games in a season if you excluded the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. He averaged 10 wins a season, Ole Miss directors defined to Kiffin, so why would he ever be fearful about dropping his job? The fanbase liked him, and he was the face of pins, t-shirts, and loads of different memorabilia. Even his canine, Juice Kiffin, had turn out to be an unofficial mascot of the soccer program. He had extra job safety than any coach within the nation, they reasoned with him.
But it surely by no means clicked for Kiffin the way in which Ole Miss hoped. All of the discuss having a statue at Ole Miss in the future by no means moved him. He was getting stressed, even telling one confidant earlier than the season he felt he was “prepared for change.” One Ole Miss booster, who favored Kiffin and acquired to know him nicely throughout his time in Oxford, stated of Lane: “He wants one thing to chase. After getting conquered all and there’s nothing left to chase, it is time to go.”
That point had come for Kiffin. He was prepared to maneuver on to greener pastures in Louisiana. He desperately wished to win a nationwide championship like his mentors Nick Saban and Pete Carroll, and believed LSU supplied him a greater likelihood to take action than Ole Miss. He had been enamored with LSU for years, believing it was an unbelievable job with a fertile recruiting base and a state that solely needed to assist one Energy 4 crew, not like Mississippi or Florida.
There was just one concern: Kiffin nonetheless wished to educate Ole Miss within the playoff.
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Weeks earlier than Kiffin formally left for LSU, sources instructed CBS Sports activities that if Ole Miss was satisfied that its coach was leaving, the college would not let him within the playoff. It wasn’t a card it wished to play, however with the early signing interval beginning Dec. 3 and the switch portal window opening Jan. 2, the college couldn’t afford to begin a training search in January if Kiffin was leaving.
It created an more and more tenuous scenario between a person who wished to have his cake and eat it, too, and a college that had no real interest in letting him achieve this. For weeks, it bubbled beneath the floor with each events hoping it would not come to a head. If he had left a yr earlier it would not have been a problem, however wildly overachieving with Division-II quarterback switch Trinidad Chambliss and a crew picked to complete seventh within the SEC, made an exit that a lot more durable.
“His personal success has made his personal place so untenable,” one supply stated main into the Egg Bowl.
It lastly occurred on Saturday, throughout a gathering between Kiffin, Carter and Boyce on the chancellor’s home. It was then that Ole Miss lastly, definitively knew Kiffin was leaving, after weeks of wishy-washy statements and noncommittal solutions about committing to the college long-term. With Kiffin’s thoughts made up, Ole Miss was prepared to maneuver on.
The Ole Miss coach wasn’t going to depart for Baton Rouge with out a combat, although. In a dialog described as tense, Kiffin did not wish to again down from his want to educate the crew by the postseason. When Ole Miss confirmed no real interest in permitting him to take action, Kiffin, in accordance with sources, threatened to take the offensive workers with him instantly if Carter and Boyce did not relent. They held agency; Kiffin wouldn’t be teaching the crew within the playoff.
As phrase of Kiffin’s techniques unfold, a number of Ole Miss soccer gamers confronted him in his workplace Sunday about it. Kiffin refused to immediately reply whether or not he had instructed his on-field offensive staffers that in the event that they did not get on the airplane with him to Baton Rouge the following day, they would not have a spot on his LSU workers.
“I am not making them go,” Kiffin instructed the gamers. “They’ll do no matter they need.”
Even after the Saturday evening assembly that made clear Kiffin was leaving for LSU and would not be teaching the crew transferring ahead, he was nonetheless pushing onerous on Sunday to Carter and others to permit him to take action. He believed right down to the very finish he would ultimately win out and get what he wished. It wasn’t till Ole Miss knowledgeable Kiffin that it was transferring ahead with defensive coordinator Pete Golding as its coach that he lastly relented and accepted his destiny.
He didn’t attend a crew assembly, on the faculty’s request, as a substitute packing up his workplace as Carter launched Golding as this system’s subsequent head coach. There have been cheers and pleasure for Golding, a well-regarded defensive thoughts and one of the best recruiter on Kiffin’s workers.
As Golding feverishly labored to carry on to as many Ole Miss staffers as attainable, Kiffin made his method to the airport. He was nonetheless upset he would not coach the crew, even calling out Carter in a ready assertion. Whereas he claimed the crew requested Carter to permit him to maintain teaching — and he did have supporters on the crew in that regard — Ole Miss sources strongly pushed again on the notion it was a widespread feeling. A number of gamers had turn out to be annoyed with Kiffin’s indecision overshadowing the crew’s accomplishments, in accordance with sources, and have been prepared to maneuver on. Some even instructed the Ole Miss administration they cared extra about whether or not their place coaches have been staying than Kiffin at that time.
Kiffin took a lot of these coaches with him on the airplane together with his brother Chris, Weis Jr., co-offensive coordinator Joe Cox and receivers coach George McDonald. Days forward of the early signing interval, Kiffin took basic supervisor Billy Glasscock and senior director of participant personnel Mike Williams to LSU, too. Kiffin on Monday despatched out one in all his famously cryptic tweets that included an easter egg: The flag of Trinidad, which after all could possibly be interpreted to imply one thing we don’t relating to Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss, who has filed a waiver for eligibility in 2026.
Quarterback portal dominoes apart, Kiffin alone was a large coup for LSU, beating out two SEC rivals for Kiffin. The Tigers’ brass believed that they had a coach worthy of following within the footsteps of Nick Saban, Les Miles and Ed Orgeron in bringing extra nationwide championships to Baton Rouge. With a number of police bikes guiding him by town, Kiffin arrived in Baton Rouge like a conquering hero to a throng of celebrating followers.
However after weeks of drama enveloped the Ole Miss program over Kiffin’s antics, overshadowing one of the best season in program historical past, even one LSU supply expressed a tinge of concern. Kiffin had already infamously been the primary coach fired in between a semifinal and nationwide championship as Nick Saban did again in 2017, and now he grew to become the primary head coach to be pushed out earlier than teaching his crew within the playoff.
“I do not know that his drama goes to go nicely right here at LSU,” the supply stated. “They need it now, however I do not suppose they will just like the drama.”
Greater than 300 miles away in Oxford, a wild scene showcased what occurs when the drama that felt so enjoyable for therefore lengthy lastly turned ugly. A person as soon as held up as a demigod was now a fanbase’s largest villain.
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