Lane Kiffin’s highly dramatic and long-drawn-out departure from Ole Miss to LSU has sent shock waves through college football and the SEC this week. On Monday, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy spoke candidly about the move, blasting Kiffin for leaving the Rebels ahead of their first College Football Playoff appearance in school history.
“Lane Kiffin is who Lane Kiffin is,” Portnoy said flatly. “At some point, Lane Kiffin is going to leave your football city with the town burning in the rearview mirror, and you can’t act surprised. … [It] doesn’t make it right, doesn’t mean he’s a good guy. He’s not.
“He makes it infinitely worse for the people who hate him by the way he acts on [social media], and the things he says, and trying to be cutesy.”
Kiffin spent the past six seasons with the Rebels, leading them to double-digit-win seasons in four of the six and three of the past four. He led Ole Miss to an 11-1 record this season, marking the first 11-win season in program history. The momentous 11th win was a 38-19 victory over in-state rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl on Friday night, which all but secured a spot in the CFP. Ole Miss’ highest-ranked win this season came against then-No. 4 LSU in Week 5.
The saga surrounding Kiffin’s decision to stay or to leave reportedly centered around whether he would be allowed to continue to coach the Rebels in the CFP. Kiffin said that Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter denied his request.
Kiffin’s time at the helm in Oxford was marked by program growth and a return to national prominence, turning the Rebels into one of the SEC’s top teams. On his way to the airport, Kiffin told ESPN that he was proud of his six seasons at Ole Miss but knew it was time for a “new chapter,” adding that his “heart was” in Oxford but that he wanted to seize the opportunity.
Portnoy wasn’t buying it.
“Everything he does infuriates somebody who doesn’t like him,” he said.
LSU reportedly offered Kiffin a seven-year deal worth around $100 million, making him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football. Since arriving in Baton Rouge, Kiffin has already posted twice on social media — a photo of a tiger captioned with the tiger emoji and two photos from LSU’s trophy room with a CFP National Championship Trophy and Jayden Daniels’ Heisman Trophy in plain sight.
LSU finished the 2025 season 7-5 and fired head coach Brian Kelly after a 5-3 start, ending a three-plus-year stint.
This will be Kiffin’s fifth college football head-coaching stint (Tennessee, USC, FAU, Ole Miss and LSU) and his third in the SEC (Tennessee, Ole Miss and LSU).
Pete Golding, Kiffin’s defensive coordinator at Ole Miss, was named as his permanent replacement.
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