LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin finally came clean on his Ole Miss exit. It was the one question no one was letting him dodge at the SEC Media Days.
After months of pulling classic Kiffin trolls and delivering sharp jabs at his former school, Kiffin took to the podium on Thursday and expressed regret over a messy Ole Miss departure.
“Yeah, I do,” Kiffin told ESPN on Thursday. “But I think that’s a good thing that I look at life that way now, instead of saying, ‘No, I don’t. I was right.’ I look at things always now, like, how could I have done them better? But it’s also easier when you’re further removed. There’s no emotion involved.”
Lane Kiffin Opens Up about Beef with Ole Miss AD Keith Carter
GettyLSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin opens up about messy exit with Ole Miss, wishes he would have done things differently.
Kiffin became the universal villain in Oxford the moment he ditched an 11-1 Ole Miss during their first-ever College Football Playoff run.
What made it messier was his sheer stubbornness to coach the Rebels through the Playoffs even after signing the $91 million contract with LSU. Ole Miss Athletic Director Keith Carter instantly slammed the door on that idea, cutting him loose on the spot and promoting Pete Golding to head coach.
The breaking point came during a tense sit-down with Chancellor Glenn Boyce, where Kiffin reportedly threatened to raid the Ole Miss staff and transfer portal if Carter denied his request.
Kiffin says he should have walked away when Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter told him no.
“I wish I would have gone in when I met with Keith and said, ‘I’ve made the decision to go,'” Kiffin added. “I wish I would have just said, ‘Hey, I’d like to coach the team,’ and he’d say, ‘No.’ And I’d say, ‘Hey, OK, I appreciate it.’ [I wish I’d] move on [and] never even discuss it again.”
Kiffin’s Peace Offering Comes Right After Pete Golding’s
GettyLane KIffin Opens up on messy exit with Ole Miss Rebels.
The usually trolling Kiffin extending an olive branch was hardly what reporters in Tampa expected. But it comes on the heels of Pete Golding clearing the air, publicly squashing any lingering bad blood between the former colleagues on Wednesday at the SEC Media Days.
“Lane and I are great, man,” Golding told ESPN. “I can’t wait for him every morning to call me or text me. It’s just the highlight of my day.”
Golding may have stayed behind to take the reins in Oxford, but Kiffin followed through on his threat with the rest of the building.
Just like he threatened, Kiffin gutted Ole Miss staff on his way out, taking the Rebels’ offensive mastermind Charlie Weis Jr to Baton Rouge, along with seven other positional coaches.
The rift deepened further when Kiffin refused to let all of his departing assistants pull double-duty to coach Ole Miss through the final leg of their Playoff run. He only allowed Weis Jr. and McDonald to split time between Oxford and Baton Rouge, keeping the rest of his new LSU staff firmly in Death Valley.
“Yeah, there’s another way,” Kiffin said. “I could have let none of them go. I don’t know. Ask people how that Georgia game would have gone [Ole Miss beat the Bulldogs 39-34 in a CFP quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl]. So, I think they should be really appreciative, but I also understand that everybody looks at things from where they’re at.”
Kiffin added his recent meetings with Carter have been decent this year. But none of the apologies or justifications — from either side — are changing the volatile anticipation surrounding Ole Miss vs. LSU on September 19.
LSU’s Lane Kiffin Admits Regret Over Chaotic Ole Miss Exit at SEC Media Days