Lane Kiffin Agrees to LSU Contract as HC Explains Decision to Leave Ole Miss in Post

The Lane Kiffin saga is over.

And he's leaving Ole Miss for an SEC rival.

Kiffin announced he agreed to become the next head coach at LSU on Sunday, ending extensive speculation about whether he would take the job with the Tigers or Florida:

Kiffin signed "a seven-year, $91 million deal, according to a copy of his term sheet obtained Monday morning by The Advocate through a public records request," according to Wilson Alexander of NOLA.com.

"Kiffin will earn $13 million per year, making him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football. Georgia coach Kirby Smart led the country this year with a $13.28 million salary, according to USA Today. Kiffin joined Smart and Ohio State coach Ryan Day as the only college football coaches to make more than $12 million annually before incentives," added Alexander. "If Kiffin wins a national title, his annual compensation would automatically increase to make him the highest-paid coach in the country."

Notably, he said he wanted to finish the season with the Rebels but was denied.

ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding is expected to be named the team's "permanent" head coach with Kiffin leaving.

Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. is expected to follow Kiffin and join the staff at LSU, per Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports.

Kiffin's future became one of the biggest stories in the sport throughout November even as Ole Miss chased a College Football Playoff spot. After all, LSU and Florida represent two of the best jobs in the SEC and nation as a whole, and they were both open after Brian Kelly and Billy Napier were fired from the respective schools.

ESPN's Mark Schlabach and Thamel reported early Sunday morning it "would be a shock" if Kiffin ended up anywhere outside of LSU and noted the expectation was the coach would sign a contract that paid him approximately $12 million per year for seven seasons.

According to USA Today's coaching database, Georgia's Kirby Smart ($13.3 million) and Ohio State's Ryan Day ($12.6 million) are the only coaches in the country who are paid more than $12 million per year.

As for Ole Miss, Schlabach and Thamel reported athletic director Keith Carter and chancellor Glenn Boyce "were adamant" Kiffin would not coach in the CFP despite his lobbying to do so.

"Ole Miss doesn't want Kiffin around its players with the transfer portal opening on Jan. 2," they reported. "The Rebels also don't want their CFP games to be a 'commercial' for LSU's future under Kiffin."

Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports reported Saturday that LSU officials planned on sending two planes to facilitate Kiffin's travels after holding a meeting "to continue solidifying the deal," while Ole Miss made some adjustments of its own:

There was seemingly a new development with Kiffin every day for a stretch.

On Nov. 17, Stewart Mandel of The Athletic reported Ole Miss gave its head coach an "ultimatum" to decide on his future before the Nov. 28 rivalry game against Mississippi State.

While Kiffin said, "that's absolutely not true," during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Schlabach reported on Nov. 18 that "Ole Miss officials are pressing" for an answer from the coach and agent Jimmy Sexton even if it wasn't a direct ultimatum. Schlabach also reported Ole Miss officials "made it clear" they would match offers from the Gators or Tigers.

Carter then announced on Nov. 21 there would be an announcement about Kiffin's future following that game against Mississippi State:

Ole Miss wanting a resolution made sense, as it now needs to prepare for the postseason since Kiffin decided to leave. That Schlabach reported some of Kiffin's family members, including his ex-wife Layla, visited Florida and LSU as his name consistently came up in rumors only added urgency to the situation.

For his part, the coach publicly avoided the topic at times.

"I'm going to stay on what I've done for six years, which isn't talk about other jobs and that situation," he told reporters on Nov. 19. " … We're in a season that's the greatest run in the history of Ole Miss, at this point. We haven't ever been at this point, so I think it's really exciting. I think Saturday night (against Florida) was amazing. I'm just living in the moment—it's amazing—and our players are, too. I see their joy."

Ole Miss' last national championship came in 1960 and its last SEC title came in 1963.

LSU and Florida undoubtedly have richer histories of winning and come with some of the strongest recruiting bases available in the country. Each job was surely enticing, but the results on the field since Kiffin took over in 2020 tell a different story in terms of recent momentum.

The Rebels have been in the middle of the CFP picture throughout the 2025 campaign and won double-digit games for the fourth time in his six years and third season in a row. LSU hasn't been to the CFP or a New Year's Six bowl since its national title in 2019, while Florida hasn't reached the double-digit win mark since that same 2019 season.

In fact, the Gators have finished with a losing record in four of the last five years and were among the most disappointing teams in the country in 2025. So were the Tigers, who failed to live up to lofty preseason expectations.

It was only Ole Miss out of the trio that remained a factor in this year's CFP race even while Kiffin was being courted by other schools thanks in large part to a dominant offense that featured transfer stars in quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy.

Ole Miss Wins Egg Bowl

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But now Kiffin will try to rebuild a consistent national title contender in LSU instead of continuing with the Rebels during what was the most successful stop in an up-and-down coaching career.

He abruptly left Tennessee after just one season, was infamously fired from USC at a private terminal at the airport in what was his fourth season, and was even relieved of his duties as Alabama's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach shortly before the Crimson Tide were scheduled to play in the national championship game in January 2017.

Ole Miss was his longest and most promising stop during his entire career, which makes it all the more notable he is leaving it.

But LSU is one of the country's elite programs in need of a turnaround after the failed Kelly experiment. And it landed its man after quite the high-profile process.