The Lane Kiffin coaching carousel has finally come to a stop-and it’s landing in Baton Rouge.
After a whirlwind Saturday of back-and-forth deliberation, Kiffin officially announced Sunday that he’s leaving Ole Miss to take over as the new head coach at LSU. It ends one of the most drawn-out and closely watched coaching sagas in recent college football memory, and it sets the stage for a seismic shift in the SEC.
At Ole Miss, the baton will be passed to defensive coordinator Pete Golding, who’s been named the program’s permanent head coach. The school made the announcement in a Sunday press release, signaling a quick internal transition as the Rebels prepare for the postseason.
Kiffin’s decision didn’t come without drama. One of the key sticking points was his desire to coach Ole Miss through the postseason, a request the school ultimately denied.
The Rebels, fresh off a dominant Egg Bowl win over Mississippi State, have all but locked in a spot in the College Football Playoff. But allowing a newly hired LSU coach to lead them into the postseason?
That was a bridge too far for Ole Miss administration.
Sources indicate that Kiffin met with Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter and chancellor Glenn Boyce on Saturday, where he expressed his wish to stay with the team through the playoff run. But with LSU being a direct conference rival, the university wasn’t comfortable with the optics-or the potential competitive implications-of that arrangement.
There was still a glimmer of hope for Ole Miss to sneak into the SEC Championship Game, but Alabama’s dramatic late-game touchdown against Auburn on Saturday night shut that door for good. The Crimson Tide secured the SEC West, leaving Ole Miss to focus on the playoff and LSU to prepare for a new era under Kiffin.
As for LSU, the move comes after the school parted ways with Brian Kelly in his fourth season-a decision that came with a hefty price tag. The Tigers will reportedly eat the full $53 million buyout, a clear sign that the program is all-in on turning the page and chasing championships once again.
Florida also made a strong push for Kiffin before ultimately hiring Jon Sumrall, but LSU’s allure proved too strong. And while you can argue whether the LSU job is definitively better than Ole Miss in the current landscape, the Tigers' championship pedigree is hard to ignore. LSU has a history of winning big-three national titles since 2003-and it’s that kind of legacy that likely pulled Kiffin south.
Brian Kelly, for all his regular-season success, becomes the rare LSU coach in the modern era to leave without a national title. From Nick Saban to Les Miles to Ed Orgeron, LSU has long been a place where the ceiling is a crystal football. Kiffin now steps into that pressure cooker, with sky-high expectations and a fanbase hungry to get back to the top.
For Ole Miss, the transition to Pete Golding marks a new chapter. Golding, who’s been instrumental in shaping the Rebels’ defense, now gets the keys to a program that’s on the cusp of a College Football Playoff appearance. It’s a high-stakes moment, but also a chance for continuity as the Rebels try to maintain momentum in the wake of Kiffin’s departure.
So, after weeks of speculation, meetings, and maneuvering, the SEC coaching landscape has been reshaped once again. Lane Kiffin is headed to LSU.
Pete Golding takes over at Ole Miss. And the ripple effects of this move are just beginning to be felt.