Making a decision this big is never easy, especially when Lane Kiffin left a successful program on the verge of making the playoffs after six years of perseverance. Things got a bit too heavy. As a result, Ole Miss head coach Kiffin leaned on two legendary coaches he had worked under in the past for advice: Nick Saban, his former boss at Alabama, and Pete Carroll, his former boss at USC.

While speaking to ESPN’s Marty Smith at the airport, Kiffin opened up about his mentors, saying, “I talked to some mentors, Coach Carroll, Coach Saban. Especially when Coach Carroll said, and your dad would tell you to go take the shot. You accomplish a lot here.”

The advice from his mentors really resonated with Kiffin. With lofty ambitions and an appetite to taste success, Kiffin’s dreams of getting to LSU became crucial, and this advice helped him get there. Nick Saban had mentioned on a different show that every coach has to manage situations based on “where their heart is” and that it is “really, really hard to up and leave your team”.

It’s true, Lane Kiffin really did accomplish a lot at The Sip. He led Ole Miss to two double-digit win seasons in six years and finished with a 55–19 record. Even though many Rebels fans might disagree right now, this is the type of opportunity his late father, Monte Kiffin, would’ve wanted him to take.

Carroll even followed up with a personal text: “Call me anytime, Lane. I promised your father I would always take care of you.”

The idea of Lane Kiffin leaving Ole Miss at a time like this didn’t sit well with the Rebels fans. They followed him to the airport just to throw fingers and voice their frustrations.

Notably, Ole Miss Rebels HC Kiffin has a history of moving around programs a bit too frequently. He has coached at Tennessee, USC, and with the NFL’s Raiders. Therefore, Kiffin hoped to avoid the feeling of a sudden departure, similar to his experience in Tennessee, where he had only stayed for a year.

The new LSU head coach is officially off to Baton Rouge to help the Tigers reclaim their glory days at the price of skipping Ole Miss’s first-ever playoff game. The Rebels have already promoted their defensive coordinator, Pete Golding, to run the show for the postseason.

Yet, most people in Mississippi didn’t buy this move to LSU.

Ole Miss AD refused Lane Kiffin sit in a meeting

Lane Kiffin explained to Marty Smith that he wasn’t allowed to join Sunday’s meeting between athletic director Keith Carter and the school chancellor. Carter specifically asked him not to attend, and Kiffin said he respected that decision. Even though he didn’t completely agree with being left out, he understood Carter’s stance on the matter.

Kiffin said he wanted to be involved because he was still trying to help Ole Miss, coach the team, and give the players the best chance to win.

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“I don’t know that I necessarily agree. We’re trying to find a way to make this work and coach the team and give the team the best chance to win. He’s got a job to do, and like he said, he has to live here,” said Kiffin.

National media might think Kiffin should’ve been in the room, but Carter has to deal with the local pressure, fan reaction, and long-term impact of whatever decision gets made. Despite everything that happened, Kiffin made it clear that he has no hard feelings toward Keith Carter. He said Carter has been great to him during all six years at Ole Miss, and he respects the challenging position Carter is in.

For Kiffin, it’s another chapter in his story after some successful years at Ole Miss.