It was a secret said out loud in college football. Now, Lane Kiffin has confirmed it. The 50-year-old head coach is leaving the Ole Miss Rebels for the LSU Tigers in the 2025 NCAA season. As expected, it didn’t take long before fans took to social media with blunt reactions.
Kiffin has seemingly been caught in a web of his own words. After repeatedly stating he wouldn’t make a decision based on money, the former Ole Miss head coach has now left Oxford for Baton Rouge, where LSU will pay him as one of the top coaches in college football. Needless to say, fans back in Mississippi didn’t like Kiffin’s decision one bit.
“University of Mississippi knew who Lane Kiffin was when they hired him. He delivered exactly what they had hoped and should have expected. Wins, relevance, chaos and calamity. When people show you who they are believe them. Now LSU wants a turn,” an user stated on X (formerly Twitter).
“So Lane Kiffin turning his job decision into a spectacle isn’t ruining college football but athletes leveraging their talent for financial security, is? I’m just trying to keep up,” another user noted.
“I love Lane Kiffin but god he always makes it messy as f—,” a fan complained on X, as well. A quick glance around social media shows that the overall feeling in college football is that Kiffin has made a spectacle of his coaching future in the NCAA.
Others put the blame on the NCAA and its schedule
While there is an overall sense of displeasure with Kiffin’s decision—and with the fact that he is skipping town just days after Ole Miss virtually secured a spot in the College Football Playoffs—others blame the timing in the NCAA, which left Kiffin with only a narrow window.
If he didn’t make his decision now, he might have to wave the chance to coach LSU goodbye for good. It was a now-or-never situation for Kiffin. Even though no one in Oxford agrees with his verdict, others across the country believe Kiffin has been a victim of the system.
“Lane Kiffin isn’t the enemy here. The calendar in College Football is. It’s an absolute joke,” an user commented. “Fix this c—, NCAA. Playoffs, National Signing Day, Transfer Portal, all within the same month time frame. Just straight stupid!“
It’s championship or bust now
Kiffin had built a playoff team in Oxford. Though the Rebels fell just short of making their first SEC Championship in program history, it seemed Ole Miss had everything Kiffin could ask for—except for the brand exposure.
“Unless Lane Kiffin wins a Natty at LSU, he’s going to regret this decision for the rest of his life. He had it made at Ole Miss and threw it away,” an upset user wrote on X.
Moving out to Baton Rouge in such dramatic fashion means Kiffin will have all eyes fixed on him in the 2026 NCAA season. Going forward, the former Rebels head coach will have a sky-high bar set for him. If he fails to deliver for LSU, then critics will rain down on him, with college football fans across the nation feasting on him.
SURVEY Is Kiffin being mistakenly portrayed as the villain?
Is Kiffin being mistakenly portrayed as the villain?
already voted 6 fans