Kirby Smart didn’t wait for Lane Kiffin’s turn at SEC Media Days to hand out the praise.
On Tuesday, the Georgia coach talked up the LSU football head coach, pointing back to their time together at Alabama under Nick Saban. That 2015 national championship run was the backdrop for Smart’s comments, and he credited Kiffin with helping push the offense forward while working as the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
“He was really good at that with us at Alabama,” Smart said. “He made Coach Saban uncomfortable, let's just say what it is, and he helped evolve that offense and bring it along and did some really good things in a day and age when people weren't doing them, but he does a great job.”
Smart also made clear that the respect comes with plenty of caution. He and Kiffin have crossed paths three times during Kiffin’s Ole Miss tenure, with Georgia winning 52-17 in 2023, Ole Miss answering with a 28-10 victory in 2024, and Georgia taking the 2025 meeting in Athens. The two programs also met in the 2025 postseason, when Ole Miss won the Sugar Bowl.
That Sugar Bowl game came with a wrinkle: it was Kiffin’s roster, Charlie Weis was still calling the offensive plays, and Pete Golding was the Ole Miss head coach.
For Smart, the challenge is obvious.
“He's hard to play,” Smart said. “I don't like having to play his teams because I know what he knows and I know how he thinks about defenses and he knows what he's doing.”
In Other News...
Pete Golding Just Went Off As Ole Miss Drama Follows Kiffin To LSU
Pete Golding spent SEC media days trying to steer the conversation back to football, but the Ole Miss coach ended up talking about the sports messier edges instead. Asked about tampering allegations involving linebacker Luke Ferrelli, Golding pushed back on the idea that one program is uniquely guilty, arguing the transfer portal has created a recruiting system where everyone is chasing players and everybody knows it. He also used the moment to defend the way coaches operate in the current landscape, drawing a direct line between player movement and the same kind of aggressive recruiting that has long defined the sport.
Goldings comments came with plenty of other Ole Miss undercurrents still hanging in the air, including the programs ongoing relationship with Lane Kiffin after his move to LSU. Golding said the two remain on good terms, even as fans continue to process the changes around the Rebels and the broader fallout from a roster and staff reshuffle that has kept this story moving well beyond the podium. For Ole Miss, the frustration is not just about one accusation or one departure, but about a system that keeps forcing schools to explain where competition ends and tampering begins. [Read more 🡒]
Pete Golding Just Unloaded On Lane Kiffin Over LSU Drama
Pete Golding used his time at SEC Media Days to frame one of the offseasons more delicate roster battles as a lesson in loyalty, legacy and what it means to stay put. The Ole Miss coach said he talked to players about the value of the programs alumni support and the long view of their careers, making the case that leaving can carry consequences beyond the immediate move.
Goldings comments also put Lane Kiffin back at the center of the conversation, with the Ole Miss staff clearly trying to keep players from being pulled along with him to LSU. The backdrop here is bigger than one decision or one transfer window: it is about how a coach sells stability to players when another job, another program and another set of promises are suddenly in the mix. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffin Just Put A Massive Label On LSUs New QB
Sam Leavitt arrived at LSU with a rsum that already says plenty about why the Tigers are betting on him to take over at quarterback. The Arizona State transfer helped lead his former team to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, and the buzz around him has only grown since Lane Kiffin started drawing comparisons between Leavitt and one of the most productive quarterbacks he has coached.
Kiffins praise went beyond the usual offseason optimism, with the Ole Miss coach projecting Leavitt as the kind of talent that could hear his name called early in the NFL draft. He also pointed to the way Leavitt throws and moves as reasons the fit makes sense, while expressing confidence that the foot issue that slowed him last season will not keep him from making an impact this fall. [Read more 🡒]