Lane Kiffin announces $100m LSU decision with parting shot at Ole Miss as Rebels confirm instant replacement

The saga is over – Lane Kiffin is the new head coach of LSU.

He signed a seven-year contract worth a reported $12 annually plus bonuses having agreed to leave Ole Miss before the College Football Playoff.

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The announcement came days after the Rebels’ 38-19 Egg Bowl victory over Mississippi State – finally putting an end to the speculation over his future.

“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.”

His replacement in Oxford, for what is likely to be a College Football Playoff run, is Pete Golding – Kiffin’s defensive coordinator was immediately announced as the Rebels replacement as they await the latest rankings on Tuesday.

Kiffin also drew interest from Florida and many other college football programs, as well as having being linked with the vacant New York Giants role in the NFL following the mid-season firing of Brian Daboll.

But it was LSU that he chose, amid reports that the Tigers had previously offered him a $90 million deal in a bid to win the race for his signature after they fired Brian Kelly during his fourth season at the helm, resulting in a $54 million buyout.

According to reports on Saturday, per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, Kiffin has already lined up his LSU staff.

“It’s the kind of tidbit that quickly can spread on the coaching-industry grapevine, as folks agree to join someone’s staff — and as they decline the opportunity to do so,” Florio wrote.

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The final numbers of the deal are reported to be in the $100m range for a seven-year contract.

Although Kiffin was set to make the announcement on Saturday, now it is expected that the official announcement will come after he holds a team meeting on Sunday at 9am CT.

On3 Sports’ Brett McMurphy reported that the reason for the delay is because the 50-year-old is “essentially demanding to finish the season [with Ole Miss] while simultaneously threatening to poach” some members of the roster and staff if he is denied that opportunity.

It was also revealed that things had “gotten even messier than expected as emotions are high.”

On Friday night, Kiffin had taken to social media in which he uploaded a photo of the Egg Bowl trophy with the caption: “At the office now. Pops thumbs up!! Wish I could hug you right now and you could guide me. Love ya.”

The coach’s father, Monte Kiffin, was a former NFL coach who passed away at the age of 84 just last year.

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Kiffin also retweeted a post from a fan who had commented: “Should be noted Ole Miss was the last place they coached together. I think it means more than people think. Monte walked them halls and sat in his office. It’s home.”

Kiffin’s fiery end to life at Ole Miss as Nick Saban weighs in

In Kiffin’s final game for Ole Miss, the rivalry match up in the Egg Bowl, the game was full of chaos from start to finish, as well as some afters for good measure.

With an on-field brawl, and accusations that jerseys were stolen in the locker room, Kiffin got in on the action when he got involved in a heated exchange with Ole Miss reporter Ben Garrett.

Garrett called out Kiffin over his reputation for job-hopping, having gone from USC to Alabama to Florida Atlantic before going to Ole Miss in a decade-long span.

Earlier in the week Griffin had fired shots in which he said, “Can’t turn a hoe into a housewife; hoes don’t act right.”

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This prompted a fiery response from Kiffin, in which he said, “You want to walk in here and call me a hoe? We’ll see how that goes.”

Despite Ole Miss having finished the 2025 regular season with an 11-1 record and second in the SEC standings behind only Georgia, the College Football Playoff selectors committee could yet deny the Rebels an appearance now that Kiffin has departed from the team.

The committee’s official selection protocol listed online says, “other relevant factors such as unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.”

Fans will have to wait for an official announcement on this, though, with Ole Miss fans hoping not to receive a double blow after such an impressive season.

On Saturday’s College GameDay broadcast in Ann Arbor, Michigan, seven-time NCAA National Championship winner Nick Saban gave his thoughts on Kiffin deserving the opportunity to coach in an SEC title game.

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“It matters to me, because I always thought winning the SEC was a significant accomplishment,” Saban said. “But when you add this playoff deal to it, and like, I’d like to ask Kirby (Smart) today, are you happy that you’re in the SEC championship?

“Because he doesn’t need to be in it, right? Alabama needs to win their way through it, probably to be able to get in the playoffs. So that’s a different scenario. But what do you do at Ole Miss when they have never been in the SEC championship game ever?

“And if Alabama loses, they get in the SEC championship game and they’re not going to allow Lane (Kiffin) to coach? That’s crazy.”

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