Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is leaving the Rebels for LSU, in a stunning and unprecedented case of a college football coach taking another job while his current team is in contention to win a national title.
Ole Miss on Sunday afternoon named Pete Golding the team’s new permanent head coach, elevating the program’s defensive coordinator to lead the Rebels into their first College Football Playoff appearance.
The head coach of your Fighting Tigers. @Lane_Kiffin is Callin’ Baton Rouge! pic.twitter.com/NpXTeTL0Vo
— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) November 30, 2025
The question of whether Kiffin would coach out the rest of the season with Ole Miss played a role in an extended saga that dominated the headlines of the final weekend of college football’s regular season. The seventh-ranked Rebels defeated rival Mississippi State on Friday to virtually lock up a spot in the College Football Playoff — and likely, a first-round home game.
“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,” Kiffin wrote in a post on X. “My request to do so was denied by (Ole Miss athletic director) 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.”
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) November 30, 2025
Kiffin said after the game that he still hadn’t made up his mind on what was next, even as a deadline for a decision loomed. He said Friday that it wouldn’t be his call whether to coach Ole Miss in the Playoff if he left. That issue seemed to contribute to the hold-up Saturday, while the Rebels waited until Alabama held off Auburn to learn they would not be playing for a conference title and previously reported decision deadlines passed without clarity.
“I’ve got to do some praying, figure this thing out,” Kiffin said Friday.
Golding, in his third season with the program, previously worked for five years under Nick Saban at Alabama.
LSU is just more than one month removed from firing its last splashy hire. Brian Kelly was let go on Oct. 26, the day after the Tigers were routed at home by Texas A&M. The firing of Kelly led to athletic director Scott Woodward’s departure from LSU amid criticism from Gov. Jeff Landry about handing out bloated contracts with hefty buyouts to coaches. Kelly is owed $53 million by the school after it officially terminated him without cause Wednesday.
New athletic director Verge Ausberry, a longtime LSU administrator and former Tigers linebacker, had said the school would not be limited in its pursuit of Kelly’s replacement. Sources briefed on the decision told The Athletic that LSU offered Kiffin a seven-year, $100 million deal.
The Tigers have not reached the CFP since they won the national championship under Ed Orgeron to cap the 2019 season. Orgeron was fired less than two years later, and Woodward lured Kelly away from Notre Dame to replace him. It didn’t work out. LSU went 24-10 under Kelly, which was not good enough for a program that has won three national titles since 2003.
The Rebels have gone 55-19 over six seasons under Kiffin and won 11 regular-season games for the first time in school history this season. Kiffin has gone 117-53 as a college coach, including stints at Tennessee, USC and Florida Atlantic.
Kiffin’s future has been a lingering, high-profile drama throughout the season. Even before LSU and Florida fired their coaches, Kiffin’s high-scoring offenses and success made him an obvious target for those jobs when and if they opened. The Athletic confirmed that Kiffin’s family had taken trips to Baton Rouge, La., and Gainesville, Fla.
At one time, Florida appeared to be the favorite if Kiffin did leave, with his family ties to the state. Kiffin’s father, the late Monte Kiffin, spent much of a long and successful coaching career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But UF began shifting focus away from Kiffin this past week as it appeared he would not go to Gainesville.
Ole Miss officials had been working on a new contract that would have made Kiffin one of the highest-paid coaches in college football. Amid speculation throughout Ole Miss’ idle week prior to the Mississippi State game, Rebels athletic director Keith Carter said an announcement would be made the day after the Egg Bowl.
In comments after Friday’s game, Kiffin cited the many factors at play in his decision and expressed understanding for the spotlight and scrutiny that comes with his job.
“I’m not trying to get pity, but (a decision like this is) not as enjoyable as maybe some people think,” he said.
The situation has few modern precedents — a sitting coach still in the championship race being courted by other major programs. Notre Dame was still in the mix for a spot in the four-team Playoff when Kelly left the Irish for LSU in late 2021 — but it was an outside shot at best.
Ole Miss has a greater than 99 percent chance to make the field, according to The Athletic’s projections.
