Lane Kiffin knows the power of prayer.
A day after telling the college football world he had not made a decision on his future — “I have a lot of praying to do,” he said Friday — the Ole Miss coach found his answer.
It took all of Saturday and even bled into Sunday, but after Friday’s Egg Bowl win against Mississippi State and a meeting with the Ole Miss athletic director and chancellor Saturday that reportedly lasted more than three hours, Kiffin decided to bolt for LSU in a stunning decision that’ll have ripple effects throughout the sport.
“After a lot of prayer and time spent with family, I made the difficult decision to accept the head coaching position at LSU,” he posted to X on Sunday. “I was hoping to complete a historic six season run with this year’s team by leading Ole Miss through the playoffs, capitalizing on the team’s incredible success and their commitment to finish strong, and investing everything into a playoff run with guardrails in place to protect the program in any areas of concern. My request to do so was denied by Keith Carter despite the team also asking him to allow me to keep coaching them so they could better maintain their high level of performance. Unfortunately, that means Friday’s Egg Bowl was my last game coaching the Rebels.
“While I am looking forward to a new start with a unique opportunity at LSU, I will forever cherish the incredible six years I spent at Ole Miss and will be rooting hard for the team to complete their mission and bring a championship to Oxford.”
Kiffin was set to hold a team meeting Sunday morning, with an announcement on his future set to come shortly after. However, that meeting was postponed until 2 p.m., reportedly due to a fight between the university and the head coach regarding the future of the staff.
One of the final sticking points in negotiations reportedly revolved around what would happen if Auburn defeated Alabama on Saturday night and if Ole Miss advanced to the SEC Championship game — and whether Kiffin would be able to coach in that game.
But when the Crimson Tide escaped with a victory in the Iron Bowl, Kiffin’s decision followed soon after.
The move ends weeks of rumors and speculation over Kiffin’s future in Oxford, which began after Florida fired Billy Napier on Oct. 19 and LSU parted ways with Brian Kelly seven days later.
The 50-year-old, in the midst of a 11-1 season that has seen the No. 7 Rebels achieve their highest College Football Playoff ranking ever, quickly became the hottest name attached to both vacancies.
On Friday, Florida reportedly turned its focus from Kiffin, citing “irregular communication” from the coach, weeks after it reportedly flew Kiffin’s family out to Gainesville — and LSU brought them to Baton Rouge — to tour campus. However, the patriarch was not among them.
Florida named Jon Sumrall its new head coach on Sunday.
According to Yahoo Sports, LSU officials had discussed an offer for the divisive coach in the seven-year, $90 million range, which would have effectively made him the highest-paid coach in the game.
Ole Miss was adamant it would match any offers made to its head coach.
In an attempt to quell the rumor mill — and perhaps give Kiffin a break from the relentless questioning — Ole Miss brass put out a statement saying that they, along with the coach, would address his future at the school following the Egg Bowl.
Immediately following the 38-19 win, Kiffin was asked if he’d figured out his future as he walked off the field.
“No, I haven’t, I have a lot of praying to do to figure that out tomorrow,” he said on the ABC broadcast. “Right now, I’m just going to go enjoy these players. I told them last night, you’re going to win your 11th game and what I want to do is experience the joy watching you and that’s what I’m about to do.”
That long-awaited moment finally arrived Saturday, but not without some help, as the coach told reporters Friday he’d reach out to his mentors — and former bosses — Pete Carroll and Nick Saban.
Kiffin put together a 55-19 record over six seasons in Oxford, cementing himself as a rebuilder of college football programs while also rehabilitating his image as a villain of the sport along the way.
Over 14 seasons spent at Tennessee, USC, Florida Atlantic and Ole Miss, Kiffin has a 117-53 record with a 4-4 mark in bowl games, not including FAU’s 2019 Boca Raton Bowl win — which came after he’d left for Ole Miss.
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