Kiffin’s Ole Miss Departure and LSU’s Dilemma
It’s curious, isn’t it? If LSU’s leadership had faced a similar scenario with Lane Kiffin or another coach, would they have made the same choices? For the last five months, discussions about Kiffin’s exit from Ole Miss just two weeks before their playoff run have focused on his desire to coach the Rebels while simultaneously being LSU’s head coach. But, honestly, none of it adds up.
Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter chose not to allow Kiffin to be a figurehead for a rival team while keeping options open for him to take players to Baton Rouge. You can agree or disagree with Carter’s approach, but once Kiffin signed his new Ole Miss contract and declared he wouldn’t consider the LSU position after the Egg Bowl, any hope of him remaining for the College Football Playoff evaporated.
Interestingly, Ole Miss had already made its choice regarding Kiffin and the playoffs over a month ago. Carter had made it clear he wouldn’t participate in the postseason if Kiffin departed. So, any rewrites to this narrative seem like an attempt to change the ending of a story that has already been told.
There are plenty of voices in college football claiming Kiffin should have been allowed to lead Ole Miss during the playoffs. Whether it was Nick Saban or some ESPN personalities, opinions kept surfacing, possibly driven by LSU fans looking to stir the pot.
However, allowing Kiffin to coach in the playoffs while already signed on with LSU would have sent a muddled message. It takes the focus away from what should be a historic season, turning it instead into a spectacle of Kiffin managing two SEC teams at once.
It’s perplexing that this discussion still lingers five months later. Kiffin hasn’t exactly had the best public relations lately, expressing challenges in recruitment tied to lingering racial tensions in Oxford.
Common Sense from LSU’s Athletic Director
Fortunately, LSU’s Athletic Director, Virge Ausberry, has shed light on the situation. Should Kiffin have retained coaching duties at Ole Miss during the playoffs after accepting the LSU position? Let’s reframe that question: If LSU had hired Kiffin and a rival school had also approached him during the Tigers’ playoff run, would they have allowed their head coach to navigate both roles?
“I would probably say, ‘No, I’m not going to do that. No,'” Ausberry mentioned, acknowledging the complexity of the situation.
Interestingly, after all the chatter surrounding Kiffin’s dual role, Ausberry noted he would make the same decision if he were in Ole Miss’s shoes. That emphasizes the challenging position both programs find themselves in.
This reflection helps us recognize that LSU’s administration understands the delicate nature of these situations, likely preparing them for challenges of their own in the future. Now, the focus shifts to pressing issues like impending changes to salary caps or ongoing debates over playoff expansion.
The past few months have certainly been tumultuous in college athletics, yet they seem disconnected from the specifics of last December’s decisions in Baton Rouge.
