Lane Kiffin in line for $1million bonus despite abandoning Ole Miss before College Football Playoff

No. 6 Ole Miss began their 2025 College Football Playoff (CFP) with a thumping 41-10 victory over No. 11 Tulane on Saturday.

It was a scoreline reminiscent of the two sides’ previous meeting in the 2025 season, in which the Rebels defeated the Green Wave 45-10 in Week 4.

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But in that game, Lane Kiffin was on the sideline coaching.

Now it is Pete Golding who is in charge of the Rebs following Kiffin’s $91 million departure to LSU at the end of the 2025 college football regular season.

Although he is no longer with Ole Miss, their first-round win in the CFP – with the CFP committee including them despite Kiffin’s departure – on Saturday saw the 50-year-old pocket a cool $250,000 bonus, nonetheless.

No wonder he was so congratulatory on X (formerly Twitter) towards his former team, where he also wished them luck on their CFP quarter-final match-up against No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs.

In Kiffin’s new deal with LSU, in which he will earn a $13 million annual salary before incentives, but there was also a highly unique clause in his new contract included.

In an unprecedented move, it stated that the Tigers would pay him any Playoff bonus that he would have received had he been able to coach Ole Miss through the CFP.

This includes a $150,000 bonus for an appearance, $250,000 for a win and can reach up to $1 million if the Rebels should go on and win the national title.

Should Ole Miss take down Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on January 1, Kiffin will be in line to make a $500,00 bonus

Therefore, Kiffin – who could yet attend that game held in New Orleans – will no doubt be behind his former team all the way, so that he can cash the maximum bonus possible before he even takes to the sideline in Baton Rouge next season.

Kiffin-Ole Miss’ fallout was messy

Kiffin was the most sought-after coach on the market this season, and it seemed that it would take a mega offer to lure him away from Oxford, Mississippi, where he and his father Monte worked together at the Rebels before his passing in 2024 at the age of 84.

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Prior to making his decision on whether to stay with Ole Miss or take on a new venture elsewhere, with him also having been linked with the vacant Florida head coaching job, Kiffin admitted that his decision process was an emotional one.

In a lengthy public statement, he also expressed that he – and his players – had wished to coach the Rebs through the CFP, but was denied that opportunity by Ole Miss Athletic Director Keith Carter.

But a number of Ole Miss players refuted this claim, though, posting to social media their own version of events of Kiffin’s meeting with the players before officially announcing his move to Louisiana.

Even ex-players who worked under Kiffin at Ole Miss chimed in, including defensive tackle Tariqious Tisdale who played on the team for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

“Don’t get me started on Lane, he’s been a snake since I met him,” Tisdale posted on social media.

“And I got teammates that can vouch especially if you was there in 2020-2021 and played defense.”

Kiffin took over the role following Brian Kelly’s mid-season firing just four years into his 10-year, $95 million contract, and has another clause in his own deal where he can become a top earner if LSU goes on to win a national championship.

Mississippi is scheduled to host LSU at their iconic Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford on September 19 2026, in what is certain to be a memorable reception for Kiffin and Rebels fans.

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