Inside the 24 hours that led to Lane Kiffin's decision to trade Ole Miss for LSU

After weeks of waiting, it's official: Lane Kiffin is headed to LSU. The polarizing coach announced his decision via social media after an extensive back-and-forth that saw him consider remaining with Ole Miss or leaving to coach the Tigers. 

Kiffin's decision comes less than a month before the Rebels are expected to embark on their first College Football Playoff appearance in program history. Ole Miss also won its program-record 11th regular season game with Friday's 38-19 victory over rival Mississippi State. 

Kiffin also announced that after extensive conversations with Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter, he will not be allowed to coach the Rebels through the postseason. 

"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 wrote. 

Kiffin departs Oxford with a 55-19 record over six years at Ole Miss. He won at least 10 games four times with the Rebels, though he never competed for an SEC title and never coached in a playoff game. 

Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding is expected to replace Kiffin as the Rebels' permanent coach. He'll also lead Ole Miss through the College Football Playoff after spending the last three seasons on Kiffin's staff. 

Keep up with all the latest news, reactions and analysis below as Lane Kiffin makes his stunning move to LSU. 

[Nov 30, 2025 at 7:16 pm ET · Chris Dukes]

The Lane Kiffin saga has clearly transcended the college football sphere and entered the mainstream when coaches from other sports start weighing in. Basketball coaching legend Rick Pitino had something to say about the timing of Kiffin's departure and the college football calendar in general. 

"I'm not knocking football, but there's something wrong with their calendar.' Pitino wrote on social media "I'm at SJU and we are potentially a one seed and can win a National Championship this year, and I leave in March??? What's going on here?"

[Nov 30, 2025 at 6:31 pm ET · Carter Bahns]

With Lane Kiffin at an impasse in his decision-making process, he reached out to a couple of his old bosses for advice. Conversations with Nick Saban and Pete Carroll helped lead him to his choice to take the LSU job, he said in an interview with ESPN.

"My heart was here, but I talked to some mentors -- Coach Carroll, Coach Saban," Kiffin said on the tarmac at University-Oxford Airport. "Especially when Coach Carroll said, 'Your dad would tell you to go, man. Take the shot. You've accomplished a lot here.'"

Kiffin also lamented his previous job exits and took solace in the fact that he had a prolific and lengthy run at Ole Miss.

"I always hated how we only gave one year to Tennessee and left," Kiffin said. "I really hated that feeling of that, even though it was exciting. But I think we gave a lot to this program and to the city. Some of the most historic wins in this stadium we've ever had. Best regular season in the history of the school. So I feel proud of that part. But it just became time."

[Nov 30, 2025 at 6:02 pm ET · Chris Hummer]

Sources tell CBS Sports more Ole Miss assistant coaches are expected to follow Lane Kiffin to LSU. They include:

• Co-offensive coordinator Joe Cox 
• LBs coach Chris Kiffin
• Senior DPP Mike Williams
•  Inside WRs coach Sawyer Jordan

[Nov 30, 2025 at 5:34 pm ET · John Talty]

It was a wild scene at the University-Oxford Airport as new LSU coach Lane Kiffin, expected staff members such as Charlie Weis Jr. and brother Chris Kiffin, among others, and other family members boarded private planes destined for Baton Rouge. More than one hundred Ole Miss fans in attendance loudly booed at Kiffin and others as they boarded the planes to start a new life at LSU. 

It was the emotional release of what was weeks of will-he-or-won't-he drama from Kiffin that overshadowed Ole Miss' 11-1 season which is expected to include a berth in the College Football Playoff. Kiffin's refusal to commit and eventual departure to LSU turned him from a beloved figure in Oxford to public enemy number one. 

[Nov 30, 2025 at 5:30 pm ET · Brad Crawford]

Ole Miss has elevated veteran defensive coordinator Pete Golding to head coach following Lane Kiffin's exit to LSU, in part to keep its locker room intact and secure a first-round home game in the College Football Playoff. CBS Sports previously reported that the selection committee would potentially dock the Rebels for coaching staff changes ahead of the postseason. Committee chair Hunter Yurachek said last week that his committee would cross that bridge if it happened and it would add a new "data point" when the conversation turned to Ole Miss.

A source told CBS Sports on Sunday there was worry inside the athletic department the Rebels could lose a home-game opportunity in the opening round if staff hemorrhaging was heightened in the wake of Kiffin's departure. Yurachek was asked during Tuesday night's playoff conference call if staff changes would alter the committee's view on the Rebels, and he emphasized that could be a possibility. Kiffin reportedly gave his offensive staffers an ultimatum of sorts to leave with him for Baton Rouge or they would not have a position on his staff at LSU.

The promotion of Golding at Ole Miss likely precludes the committee from diminishing the Rebels' worth as an 11-1 at-large finisher and Ole Miss is expected to maintain its ranking at No. 7 in Tuesday's penultimate reveal. Should the committee push the Rebels two spots back to No. 9, Ole Miss would be on the road in the first round. And they would have to justify pushing the Rebels behind Oklahoma (10-2), a team Ole Miss beat away from home earlier this season. Notre Dame and Alabama, two other teams behind Ole Miss in last week's rankings, also have one fewer win than the Rebels.

[Nov 30, 2025 at 4:51 pm ET · Brandon Marcello]

While Lane Kiffin toyed with three programs late in the week before ultimately picking LSU, the rest of the SEC coaching board was convulsing behind the scenes. For a moment, Auburn and Arkansas believed they had their men. Then one conversation -- not involving Ole Miss -- sent the entire carousel swerving off its tracks.

Everyone expected this potentially record-breaking cycle to get messy, but the speed at which things flipped late last week blindsided more than a few power brokers, industry sources told CBS Sports.

Yes, Kiffin's soap-opera two-step between Ole Miss and LSU set the tone, but that wasn't the twist that ultimately pushed multiple coaches into jobs they didn't quite anticipate seven days earlier.

How the ripple effects of Lane Kiffin's saga upended the entire SEC coaching carousel in less than a week

Brandon Marcello

[Nov 30, 2025 at 4:45 pm ET · Matt Zenitz]

Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. is also currently expected to be part of Lane Kiffin's staff at LSU, sources tell CBS Sports. It would be a big boon for Kiffin and LSU and could potentially leave Ole Miss without its offensive braintrust (Kiffin and Weis) heading into the College Football Playoff. 

[Nov 30, 2025 at 4:31 pm ET · Matt Zenitz]

Among the Ole Miss staffers expected to go to LSU with Lane Kiffin, per sources:

• Wide receivers coach George McDonald 
• General manager Billy Glasscock
• Senior associate AD for football operations Thaddeus Rivers
• Head strength and conditioning coach Nick Savage

[Nov 30, 2025 at 3:57 pm ET · Will Backus]

Ole Miss is doing everything it can to keep a majority of its staff in place ahead of its expected College Football Playoff run. Quarterbacks coach Joe Judge has already agreed to remain with the Rebels, who are being "aggressive" with proposed staff salaries, according to ESPN. ESPN also notes that there is some "momentum" towards new coach Pete Golding keeping his coaching staff in-tact, in spite of recent reports that Lane Kiffin wanted to take his offensive assistants with him to LSU. 

Retaining Judge is a good start. He's a former NFL head coach with decades of experience as an offensive coordinator and assistant at the professional level. He's also been key in the development of Ole Miss quarterbacks like Jaxson Dart, a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and Trinidad Chambliss, who has been one of the most dynamic offensive playmakers in the nation this season. Ole Miss' passing attack has led the SEC each of the past two seasons. 

[Nov 30, 2025 at 3:24 pm ET · David Cobb]

In many ways, Lane Kiffin's path to Saturday's seismic decision to leave Ole Miss for LSU began on an airport tarmac in the early morning hours of Sept. 29, 2013. That's when he lost the chance to lead a program defined by three letters and synonymous with gridiron greatness.

More than 12 years after that humbling and iconic flameout at USC, Kiffin's climb back into college football's ruling class is complete. What makes his jump to LSU so stunning is that he was on the verge of taking Ole Miss up the same mountain programs like USC and LSU inhabit.

Instead of continuing that ascent with the playoff-bound Rebels, who are in prime position to host a College Football Playoff game, he's cashing out in Mississippi and hoping to accelerate his chase for a national title by walking away from a legitimate shot at one right under his nose. The move will reverberate across college football and has already opened the door for other dominoes on the coaching carousel to fall.

For Kiffin, it's simply the latest eyebrow-raising turn in a career that has never followed a conventional script. More on that later, but first, here's the timeline of events from the past couple of months that led to Kiffin's move.

Lane Kiffin to LSU timeline: How the Ole Miss coach kept all of college football waiting with bated breath

David Cobb

[Nov 30, 2025 at 3:08 pm ET · Brad Crawford]

Lane Kiffin released a statement Sunday afternoon confirming his departure from Ole Miss to LSU, pointing blame at Rebels athletic director Keith Carter for not allowing him to "finish strong" with his players in the College Football Playoff.

"After a lot of prayer and time spent with family, I made the difficult decision to accept the head coaching position at LSU," Kiffin wrote. "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."

Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding will reportedly take over as the Rebels' full-time coach, per CBS Sports' Brandon Marcello, and lead this program into the first round of the playoff next month.

[Nov 30, 2025 at 3:00 pm ET · David Cobb]

Ole Miss is expected to elevate defensive coordinator Pete Golding to be the program's next head coach, Matt Zenitz and Brandon Marcello reported. Golding is in his third season as the program's DC after previously holding the same position at Alabama. Golding played his college football down the road from Oxford at Delta State and will bring some continuity to the greatest era in the last 50+ years of program history.

What remains to be seen is how Golding's promotion will impact the rest of the staff amid Lane Kiffin's departure for LSU. It presumably won't hurt the Rebels' efforts to retain assistants for an upcoming CFP run while Kiffin is trying to build out his LSU staff. The Rebels also have 20 high school commitments from the Class of 2026. Promoting Golding should position Ole Miss to keep some of the class in tact ahead of next week's signing day.

[Nov 30, 2025 at 2:33 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Players are filing out of the meeting at Ole Miss where they were informed Lane Kiffin is leaving for LSU, and they were also told Pete Golding will indeed by the interim coach for the College Football Playoff, as one player confirmed to CBS Sports' John Talty. 

The expectation is that Kiffin will take most of the offensive staff with him to Baton Rouge, but Golding will stay in Oxford and will get the Playoff to make his case for the full-time position. Golding is expected to be one of the top candidates for the job, and if he can lead Ole Miss to a win in their first round game in the Playoff, that would certainly go a long way towards making his case to have the interim tag removed. 

[Nov 30, 2025 at 12:48 pm ET · Brad Crawford]

Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding is expected to be the Rebels' interim coach through the College Football Playoff with the expectation Lane Kiffin leaves for LSU, per CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz. Golding, who has called the Ole Miss defense under Kiffin since 2023, has the Rebels ranked 7th in the SEC in scoring defense and 8th in total defense this season. A Louisiana native and former player at Delta State, Golding is not expected to join Kiffin's staff in Baton Rouge. With most of Kiffin's offensive staff expected to following him to LSU, the playoff selection committee has a decision to make on how this new "data point" will affect seeding.

[Nov 30, 2025 at 12:22 pm ET · Brad Crawford]

Lane Kiffin plans to take most of his offensive coaching staff at Ole Miss with him to LSU, but has informed coaches they will not be welcomed if they're not on the plane to Baton Rouge on Sunday afternoon, according to On3's Chris Low. This lines up with a previous report Sunday that the university was doing everything in its power to retain many of Kiffin's staff ahead of the opening round of the College Football Playoff last month. CBS Sports was told last week by a source close to the playoff committee that the Rebels' seeding could be affected if Kiffin leaves for LSU ahead of the final bracket reveal. Ole Miss (11-1) is expected to be ranked just outside of the top 5 in Tuesday night's penultimate rankings from the committee.

[Nov 30, 2025 at 11:56 am ET · Will Backus]

Lane Kiffin, the top candidate of the 2025 college football coaching carousel, has made it clear he intends to become the next coach at LSU, according to Yahoo Sports. Kiffin will leave Ole Miss after six seasons and a 55-19 record. 

A decision was expected on Saturday by Kiffin after he met with athletic director Keith Carter and university administration, but both parties left the meeting without a public resolution. A team meeting was called at 9 a.m. local time on Sunday but was later pushed to 1 p.m.

One of the highest-profile coaches in college football since joining the Rebels in 2020, Kiffin led the program to four 10-win seasons and three finishes of No. 11 or better in the AP Top 25. His tenure marked the most successful period at Ole Miss since integration. 

Lane Kiffin's decision is in: Ole Miss coach leaving team before CFP for LSU, blames AD for early exit

Will Backus

[Nov 30, 2025 at 11:34 am ET · Brad Crawford]

The commotion surrounding the postponement of the team meeting to 1 p.m. CT is centered around the university's attempt to retain members of Lane Kiffin's coaching staff ahead of the program's first College Football Playoff appearance, per Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger. LSU's plane is scheduled to pick up Kiffin around the same time as the scheduled team meeting, which means the Rebels' outgoing coach may not be in attendance at all. Per Yahoo Sports, LSU's original proposal to Kiffin was a seven-year contract at more than $90 million, which would make him one of college football's highest-paid coaches.

[Nov 30, 2025 at 10:41 am ET · Brad Crawford]

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee "could" consider altering potential seeding for Ole Miss in the event Lane Kiffin leaves for LSU, committee chair Hunter Yurachek confirmed last week. Yurachek said on the playoff teleconference the Rebels could be graded differently if they enter the postseason under an interim coach. No discussion has previously taken place about the Rebels in that scenario, but that changes Sunday if Kiffin bolts for LSU.

"We'll take care of that when it happens. I mean, we don't look ahead," Yurachek said. "It is the loss of a player, loss of a key coach is in the principles of how we rank the teams. But again, we don't have a data point for Ole Miss without their head coach."

Ole Miss entered rivalry weekend at No. 7 in the committee's rankings. Seeds 5-8 receive first-round home games. Prior to Yurachek's comments last week, a source close to the committee told CBS Sports that Kiffin leaving the program before the start of the playoff would be viewed negatively, especially if he takes both current coordinators with him.

Among the four principles the committee uses to split otherwise comparable teams during the selection process, "other relevant factors" can include the "unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team's performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance." 

Precedent was set in 2023 with Florida State when the committee excluded the unbeaten Seminoles after Jordan Travis suffered a season-ending injury. Downgrading Ole Miss due to this potential coaching clause would be a first, however.

[Nov 30, 2025 at 9:49 am ET · John Talty]

Amidst reports of which staff could follow Lane Kiffin to Baton Rouge, don't expect defensive coordinator Pete Golding to be one of them, multiple sources told CBS Sports. Golding loves it in Oxford and prefers to stay at Ole Miss rather than follow Kiffin to another location.

Golding, who arrived at Ole Miss from Alabama in 2023, is a highly-regarded defensive coordinator in college football circles. As Ole Miss faces the loss of Kiffin and multiple other staff members ahead of a College Football Playoff run, keeping the defensive play-caller is critical. 

[Nov 30, 2025 at 9:33 am ET · Robby Kalland]

Lane Kiffin Watch will stretch on for at least a few more hours. The meeting with Ole Miss players originally scheduled for 9 a.m. CT has now been pushed back four hours to 1 p.m. CT, per 247Sports' Chase Parham. Why the meeting has been moved is not clear, but this comes amid reports that Kiffin is threatening to take his staff with him to LSU before the Playoff and leave Ole Miss scrambling to fill things out if he's not allowed to continue coaching. 

All expectations are Kiffin will be leaving for Baton Rouge at some point on Sunday, but until it's official we will continue to monitor the situation for any last minute changes or drama. 

[Nov 30, 2025 at 9:27 am ET · Robby Kalland]

In case there was any doubt Lane Kiffin might have truly changed and would find a way to finally have an amicable breakup from Ole Miss, according to 247Sports' Chase Parham, he is threatening to take the entire Ole Miss staff with him to LSU immediately if he's not allowed to coach the team through the College Football Playoff. 

There is almost no one outside of Kiffin and a very few vocal folks on TV who think Kiffin should be allowed to keep coaching Ole Miss if he leaves for a rival. However, he's threatening to derail the Rebels' Playoff chances as best he can if he's not allowed to be part of them, which will lead to yet another messy breakup for Kiffin and make him public enemy No. 1 in yet another SEC town. 

[Nov 30, 2025 at 9:00 am ET · Robby Kalland]

The Lane Kiffin saga is inching towards a conclusion in Oxford as the Ole Miss team has been called in for a meeting with Kiffin at 9 a.m. CT. According to The Athletic, Kiffin is expected to accept LSU's massive offer and inform his team that he'll be leaving for Baton Rouge. 

Kiffin met with Ole Miss AD Keith Carter on Saturday evening, with the delay in his final decision coming because they wanted to see if the Rebels would make the SEC Championship game if Auburn beat Alabama. That did not happen and now 11-1 Ole Miss will wait for their next game in the first round of the Playoff, where Kiffin will not be coaching the team if he does indeed leave for LSU as is expected. 

We will know for sure in about an hour once Kiffin meets with his players in Oxford, with LSU hoping to have him on a plane to Baton Rouge shortly after. 

[Nov 30, 2025 at 8:40 am ET · Jack Crosby]

Lane Kiffin did not reveal the decision on his future on Saturday, as expected, but a resolution looms on the horizon Sunday. As it stands with the reported team meeting with Kiffin and his players happening on Sunday morning, it would be a shock if Kiffin doesn't end Sunday as LSU coach, as ESPN's Pete Thamel reports, Kiffin reversing course and remaining at Ole Miss would come with a "shock" in a turn of events. 

[Nov 30, 2025 at 12:37 am ET · Shehan Jeyarajah]

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has scheduled a team meeting at 9 a.m. CT to inform them of his decision, according to multiple reports. A formal announcement is expected to follow afterwards. 

Multiple reports state that Kiffin is likely to take the head coaching job at LSU, but it's unclear the logistics that he has agreed to. Ole Miss was eliminated from the SEC Championship Game after Alabama outlasted Auburn in the Iron Bowl, and the Rebels will not learn their College Football Playoff fate until Dec. 6. Kiffin would like to coach Ole Miss through the season, but the athletic department is reluctant to allow that. 

[Nov 29, 2025 at 11:23 pm ET · Shehan Jeyarajah]

Lane Kiffin is close to making a final decision on departing from Ole Miss for LSU, but Kiffin is waiting to see the resolution of the Iron Bowl, according to ESPN. If Alabama hangs on, Ole Miss will be eliminated from SEC title contention, which could free Kiffin up to formally make his move. 

[Nov 29, 2025 at 10:52 pm ET · Cameron Salerno]

Auburn just tied the game with Alabama with just over 12 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, which potentially puts Ole Miss back in play to play Georgia for the SEC title next week. Yahoo Sports reported that LSU executives and Lane Kiffin's reps held a call after the Tigers' game against Oklahoma. Part of those conversations, according to the report, was travel plans for Kiffin and his family. The university is planning on sending two planes to Oxford for Kiffin and his family.

If Auburn upsets Alabama, Ole Miss plays Georgia for the SEC title next Saturday.

[Nov 29, 2025 at 10:01 pm ET · Brad Crawford]

A self-proclaimed "Portal King" of sorts during his time with the Rebels, Kiffin wouldn't have to transform his roster annually in Baton Rouge according to Nick Saban. That's what recruiting is for with the portal simply being utilized to pick-and-choose elite players needing to fill holes in the roster.

Kiffin said after Friday's Egg Bowl that Saban was someone he would confide in before making his decision. Saban made no prediction Saturday.

"I think Lane's decision is going to come down to one thing: where is the place that I can recruit the best players? And I think one of Lane's apprehensions is that he's had to use the portal to build his team at Ole Miss each year," Saban said during Saturday's appearance on College GameDay. "At LSU, he probably could recruit better talent and then just supplement his team by need with the portal. That's probably the dilemma that he has, as well as his loyalty to his team that he's coaching now that he wants to be able to continue to coach. So it's a tough thing to have the right answer to."

[Nov 29, 2025 at 9:53 pm ET · Tom Fornelli]

LSU hiring a coach who felt like he hit his head against the ceiling at another P4 gig and thinks he has a better shot of winning it all in Baton Rouge. But enough about Brian Kelly...

[Nov 29, 2025 at 9:44 pm ET · Chris Hummer]

As we hopefully near a decision -- ESPN's Marty Smith, live from Oxford, just said one is imminent -- I just published this: 

If Lane Kiffin ditches Ole Miss for LSU ahead of College Football Playoff, it's the ultimate slap in the face

Chris Hummer

[Nov 29, 2025 at 8:21 pm ET · Will Backus]

As the Iron Bowl between No. 10 Alabama and Auburn kicks off, all eyes are still on Lane Kiffin as he debates between Ole Miss and LSU. Kiffin was supposed to meet with Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter Saturday afternoon, but the Iron Bowl could introduce an interesting new wrinkle to his process. If the Tigers upset the Crimson Tide, that would send Ole Miss to the SEC Championship Game to play No. 4 Georgia. In that scenario, Kiffin would have to take the LSU job before Ole Miss plays in the SEC Championship Game. The Tigers would likely want him in place before Wednesday's high school national signing period opens. It would be hard to split his attention between preparing the Rebels for the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff beyond that while building his first roster at LSU.