Lane Kiffin Sends Message To Ole Miss Before College Football Playoff

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Dec 9, 2025 2:16 PM ET

Lane Kiffin will watch as Ole Miss competes in the College Football Playoff.

After leading Ole Miss to an 11-1 season, Kiffin left Oxford to take LSU's head coaching job. Kiffin said the program denied his request to coach in the CFP, but several of his staffers will finish the season with the Rebels.

ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that four assistants who followed Kiffin to LSU returned to Ole Miss on Monday to work the CFP. Tight end coach Joe Cox, wide receivers coach George McDonald, assistant quarterback coach Dane Stevens, and slot receiver coach Sawyer Jordan all rejoined the team a week after the SEC program confirmed that offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. will stay through the postseason.

Kiffin appeared to confirm the news when wishing his former team luck on social media.

"Go win it all!!!!" Kiffin wrote.

Kiffin leaves Ole Miss

TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA - OCTOBER 02: Head coach Lane Kiffin of the Mississippi Rebels reacts against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the first half at Bryant-Denny Stadium on October 02, 2021 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Unlike those five staffers, Kiffin won't get to complete the 2025 season after leaving Ole Miss for a conference rival. He reportedly received a seven-year, $91 million deal to coach LSU, who fired Brian Kelly amid a 5-3 start.

Kiffin claimed that he and the team asked to let him keep coaching through the CFP, a request that Ole Miss athletic director denied. Several players disputed Kiffin's assertion that they wanted him to remain with the team before taking the new job.

"[Kiffin] had an opportunity to coach in the playoff, and that would have been to stay at Ole Miss, and he chose not to do that," Carter told ESPN's Mark Schlabach last week. "That's his choice, and I respect that choice. But then we had to make a choice, and talking with the team and spending time with them, I think they know they need coaches to make a playoff run.

Ole Miss's CFP chances

The Rebels will make their first-ever CFP appearance as the No. 6 seed after accruing the nation's third-most total yards in 2025. Their path to a championship won't be easy.

Ole Miss is heavily favored to begin the postseason with a first-round win over Tulane on Saturday, Dec. 20. However, the Rebels would then have to avenge their Oct. 18 loss to Georgia in the quarterfinals before potentially facing No. 2 Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

Kiffin's former team is tied with Alabama and Miami for the seventh-longest odds (+2200) to win the national title on FanDuel Sportsbook.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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