It’s not hard to blame anyone for not recognizing college football as it exists today. Due to players getting paid via NIL, conference realignment, and the removal of seemingly any regulation surrounding the transfer portal, the sport is in a much different spot than it was even 10 years ago.
While some good has definitely come from the new era of college football, the nasty side of the current landscape was on display over the weekend in the SEC. Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin led his team to a win over their rivals, the Mississippi State Bulldogs, cementing an 11-2 record, all but guaranteeing the Rebels would be competing for a national championship in the College Football Playoff.
In an unprecedented situation, Kiffin followed the win by accepting a job to become the head coach of the LSU Tigers, who fired Brian Kelly from the role earlier during the season, and Ole Miss AD Keith Carter decided that Kiffin wouldn’t be allowed to remain the coach for the Rebels for a potential championship run, Kiffin revealed in a statement.
“After a lot of prayer and time spent with family, I made the difficult decision to accept the head coaching position at LSU.
“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.”
Now, Carter is changing course, at least to some extent, and allowing one coach who departed along with Kiffin to the LSU sidelines.
“With the playoff committee releasing updated rankings tonight, I wanted it to be known that after conversations with LSU, we are allowing Charlie to return to Ole Miss to coach the team during the playoffs,” Kiffin said via a statement.
“I’ve already made the committee aware of this and I’m hopeful this decision will allow Ole Miss to receive the highest ranking possible because these great players are very deserving of that. I’m excited that Charlie will be back to help coach the greatest team in the history of Ole Miss.”
Fans reacted to the decision on social media.
“Makes a lot of sense. Kiffin trying to save face for the recruits that watched him leave his playoff team before the playoffs,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“Wow, what a kind, thoughtful, selfless, generous, gracious guy that Lane Kiffin is. We are simply not worthy of his greatness,” someone else added sarcastically.
“Hey Lane you know what could’ve persuaded the committee even more in Ole Miss’s favor? You not snaking your own team to go to a rival school,” another person wrote.
It’ll be interesting to see what sort of success the Rebels have this postseason.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.