Lane Kiffin ditching Ole Miss for LSU ahead of CFP is a slap in Rebels’ face

Lane Kiffin had one final message for Ole Miss on the way out the door: You’re just not good enough.

Don’t confuse his desire to coach in the College Football Playoff with actual remorse. By choosing to leave Ole Miss for fellow SEC foe LSU, as Yahoo reported he intends to do, Kiffin is saying with his entire chest that he can’t win a national championship in Oxford, Mississippi. This is despite the Rebels being a lock for the CFP at 11-1 overall during what is by far Kiffin’s best season as a head coach.  

Someone who rejects a program so openly doesn’t deserve a chance to coach that team in the playoff. It shouldn’t even be a discussion.

If Kiffin wants to take LSU, he should move to Baton Rouge immediately.  

Let one of the Rebels remaining coaches — be it a Pete Golding or a Joe Judge — lead the playoff charge. Teams feed off belief. If Kiffin actually wants to coach in the playoff, he has an easy option to do so. He could stay with Ole Miss. It’s unreasonable to expect Ole Miss would let him finish out the season and then leave for competitor, especially in an era where so many of his players could go with him. 

Frankly, all of this is an ironic calculus by Kiffin given Oxford is where he experienced a career rebirth.

Remember, for all Kiffin’s recent success and his soon-to-be record-setting pay bump, his history as a coach is littered with failure. He escaped in the middle of the night in Knoxville after just one 7-6 season. He got fired on a tarmac as USC’s head coach. Nick Saban even fired Kiffin ahead of a national championship game when Kiffin couldn’t juggle his offensive coordinator duties with his next role as FAU’s head coach.

Other than a few seasons in Boca Raton, Oxford is the only place where Kiffin’s had any real extended success on the big stage as a decision maker.

In Mississippi, Kiffin found a program that embraced his eccentric nature. Athletic director Keith Carter gave Kiffin all the leeway possible to run the Rebels as he saw fit. Ole Miss’ collective emerged as an industry leader in the NIL era, allowing the Rebels to consistently reel in top portal classes

Does Ole Miss have the recruiting firepower of a LSU, Alabama or Georgia? Obviously not. The history of Rebels football isn’t there. The high-end money of a program like Oregon or Miami isn’t either. There’s a reason why the Rebels usually sign top 20 classes instead of top 10.

But it’s not as if Kiffin’s ever been a superstar recruiter. He’s a showy one. He wins on social media. But those who’ve worked with Kiffin wouldn’t describe him as a recruiting maniac like his mentor Saban or his friend Kirby Smart.

You can get away with that at Ole Miss. The fans there were thrilled with Kiffin’s portal-first approach.

It will be much more difficult in Baton Rouge where elite classes are expected and every recruiting battle is a live-or-die moment for the Tigers community.

That’s the most confusing thing about Kiffin flirting with LSU and Florida so openly.

You could argue he already found his football soul mate.

There’s a reason Kirk Fertenz is in Year 27 at Iowa or that Steve Spurrier had so much success in 12 years at Florida. They were (are) great football coaches, yes. But their personality and style fit their school.

Kiffin and Ole Miss seemed to be an ideal match. Nobody embraced Kiffin more than the Rebels faithful. And you know how he repaid that? With a wandering eye toward Auburn way back in 2022 and then Florida and LSU this time around. Those who’ve worked for Kiffin have expected him to chase a bigger SEC job for years.

So, I’d just ask: Why doesn’t Kiffin believe more in himself?

The Rebels are just four games away from the ultimate goal in college football. Kiffin’s already managed four double-digit win seasons in his last five years in Oxford. It’s taken LSU 13 years to have that many double-digit win efforts.

Kiffin didn’t have to leave Oxford to chase what he’s looking for. 

That’s why the thought of Kiffin getting to coach the Rebels in the playoff is so absurd.

Why would Ole Miss, a program on the verge of history, let someone who’s showed so little faith in the program keep leading it?