Lane Kiffin Talks Regrets Over Ole Miss Exit for LSU Job During College Football Playoff Run

LSU head coach Lane Kiffin revealed that he regrets the way his departure from Ole Miss unfolded last season.

Kiffin explained to ESPN's Mark Schlabach that he shouldn't have fought to continue coaching the Rebels during the 2025-26 College Football Playoff after telling Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter that he accepted the LSU job.

"I wish I would have gone in when I met with Keith and said, 'I've made the decision to go,'" Kiffin told Schlabach (h/t ESPN's Pete Thamel). "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 discussed it again."

Pete Golding ended up closing out the 2025 season as the Rebels' head coach after Kiffin left for LSU.

Kiffin coached Ole Miss from 2020-25, compiling a 55-19 record at the school while making five bowl game appearances.

The Rebels started their 2025 campaign with an 11-1 record and were headed towards their first CFP run before Kiffin signed a seven-year contract worth $91 million to become the Tigers' next head coach.

In a statement released after Kiffin's decision to join LSU, he confirmed that he requested to continue coaching Ole Miss through the end of the 2025 season before Carter denied it.

Now, Kiffin wishes that he would have walked away instead of fighting to continue coaching the team.

"Yeah, I do," Kiffin said Thursday, via Schlabach. "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."

Ole Miss ultimately advanced to the CFP semifinals before naming Golding as the school's full-time head coach.