After leading the Rebels to an 11-1 season and a dominant win over rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl on Friday afternoon, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin’s decision on the future has officially been revealed. According to a statement on Sunday, Kiffin is set to leave his position as the Rebels’ head coach.
Kiffin will be the next coach of the LSU Tigers.
“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 posted to social media.
The news ends a long stretch of speculation about what the 50-year-old coach would be doing with his football future. Rumors and reports have been running rampant about Kiffin’s potential decision for weeks as the Rebels continued to collect wins on the year. Ole Miss finished the regular season with an 11-1 record, the best in school history, and looks to be bound for the College Football Playoffs with a potential stop at the SEC Championship game along the way.
According to multiple reports, the delay in Kiffin’s announcement came after he wanted to continue coaching Ole Miss in the playoffs. The Rebels’ administration denied Kiffin’s request.
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Kiffin has spent six seasons with Ole Miss after joining the program before the 2020 season. He has an overall record of 55-19 with the Rebels during that stretch, and has cranked out 10 or more wins in four out of his last five seasons. Kiffin’s Ole Miss resume also includes an Outback Bowl win, a Peach Bowl win, a Gator Bowl win, a Super Bowl appearance, and a Texas Bowl appearance. This season would have been his first playoff appearance as a head coach.
Kiffin first assumed a head coaching role with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders from 2007 to 2009 after spending time as a position coach with Southern Cal from 2002 to 2006. His first collegiate coaching job came at Tennessee in 2009, but he only spent one year on Rocky Top before heading back to the West Coast to coach at Southern Cal again.
He also spent time as the offensive coordinator with Nick Saban’s Alabama program and as the head coach of Florida Atlantic, which lasted from 2017 to 2019. Kiffin was then hired by the Rebels before the 2020 season.
Kiffin’s move to LSU makes for a massive shake-up in both the SEC and college football as a whole.
