Lane Kiffin Bolts Ole Miss for LSU
Former Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin made the biggest headline of all this weekend by leaving the school to move into the same position at SEC rival LSU. Unfortunately, Kiffin isn’t allowed to coach Ole Miss (who finished 11-1) in the upcoming College Football Playoff.
This is nothing new for Kiffin, who has spurned plenty of schools before (most notably Tennessee and USC). But this isn’t necessarily a Kiffin-problem on the whole, as many other coaches across the country have done the same thing, leaving the programs on the other end with a coaching vacancy – and a disappointed fan base.
Going forward, there needs to be a way that allows coaches to fulfill their duties throughout the entirety of the season. As a colleague of mine put it recently, “you would never see a college basketball coach do this…” And he’s right, it would be letdown of the century for a hoops coach to do this right before the NCAA Tournament.
So, how do we rectify this major problem in college football? It seems to be the only sport in the American mainstream that faces this crisis. Not many things seem to be capable of ruining football, but this is something that could certainly leave fans and boosters unwilling to take part in this flawed process any longer.
Why Did Lane Kiffin Leave Ole Miss for LSU?
Kiffin took the head coaching job at LSU, receiving a seven-year contract that will reportedly pay him $12 million annually. During his time at Ole Miss, Kiffin compiled a 55-19 record, on the strength of four 10-win season and three finishes inside the Top-10.
According to reports, Kiffin grew frustrated with the lack of resources at Ole Miss, compared to other SEC schools like Alabama and his new home, LSU. Now, Kiffin has his biggest opportunity yet with the Tigers, who have an endless recruiting pipeline and national title expectations every season.
How Many CFB Programs Was Lane Kiffin a Head Coach At?
Prior to becoming the head football coach at LSU, Kiffin was previously the head coach at four other schools: Tennessee, USC, Florida Atlantic, and Ole Miss. Kiffin held other notable roles in football, such as being the head coach of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders in 2007-2008, and he was the offensive coordinator at Alabama from 2014-2016.
What CFB Coaching Moves Paint a Similar Picture to Lane Kiffin?
There is actually a similar coaching move to Kiffin, as Tulane’s Jon Sumrall left the program on Saturday to become the head coach at Florida.
Over the years, we have seen coaches leave their teams before the season was over. This includes former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly, who left the Irish before the 2021 Fiesta Bowl. He flew to Baton Rouge that night, took the LSU job, and texted his players, “I’m leaving, sorry.” That same season, Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma for USC, never coaching the Sooners in their upcoming bowl game.
How Does CFB Fix Its Coaching Volatility?
College football could fix its coaching volatility problem by creating a governing body for the entire sport. It seems a lot easier said than done, but this is the most immediate action that can be taken to avoid a complete collapse of the system. A governing body could create key dates, extended deadlines for CFB Playoff teams, and even limit to where/when coaches could go.
Part of the problem with the current system is that coaches leaving their current programs also want to take their staff, as well as key players, with them in the move. This creates an extraordinary issue, in that teams that now have a coaching vacancy (like Ole Miss), find themselves behind the eight-ball heading into their most important games of the season.
In fact, the 2024-2025 season had 30 head coaching changes – and that comes a year after there were 31. It’s also worth noting that there were 550 assistant coaching changes, which directly correlate to a departing head coach wanting to bring his own staff along with him.
