Ole Miss’s playoff week was anything but normal, but they refused to fold. With Miami waiting for them in Fiesta Bowl Lane, Kiffin’s move to call back his LSU-bound coaches to Baton Rouge sent chills down the Rebels’ playoff hopes. But despite the scare, they aren’t backing out, as the Rebels’ QB coach made it pretty clear that they are ready to face the Hurricanes despite the chaos.

“We are prepared, depending on who does or does not show up,” Joe Judge said to the media during the January 6th, 2026, conference ahead of the Fiesta Bowl. “We’ve coached the entire week without them, basically planning for no one to be here, but we don’t know if that’ll be the case.”

The Rebels’ former offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis Jr., and running backs coach Kevin Smith are in Oxford, flying back and forth to LSU, helping Lane Kiffin with recruiting. But apart from him, there’s no detail around other coaches who were helping Ole Miss till the playoffs. For now, tight ends coach/co-offensive coordinator Joe Cox and receivers coach/passing game coordinator George McDonald are all at LSU.

Despite that, the staff is putting all its efforts into putting up a strong game against Miami. Senior offensive analyst Fisher Ray is handling the tight ends coach role. Various graduate assistants and other analysts took on additional responsibility amid the uncertainty, helping players with tackling drills and defensive positioning, especially against Miami’s high-powered offense.

Additionally, players are settling in just fine. After Lane Kiffin’s move, they adjusted well under Pete Golding; now they are handling this coach’s departure just fine. As quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and tailback Kewan Lacy made it clear that their locker room is just focusing on taking down Miami.

“It wasn’t too hard to transition from that because we retained a lot of the other coaches,” Chambliss said.

However, the stress and pressure are clearly visible in the judge’s words as he compares Ole Miss’s current situation with that of his neighbor, Aaron Hernandez.

“My next-door neighbor was Aaron Hernandez,” Judge said. “I know this is more chaotic.”

The reference is to Hernandez’s history; he was a former New England Patriots star but was convicted of first-degree murder in 2013. So, judges, this comment clearly states the turmoil they are going through. Going against the Hurricanes won’t be that straightforward for the Ole Miss staff without their old offensive staff. They recorded 12 sacks across two CFP wins and now rank no. 1 nationally in sacks with 46 and defensive pressure 220.

Now, let’s wait and see how Ole Miss copes with challenges and takes down Miami. With that, Pete Golding made a massive portal move.

Lane Kiffin loses key player to Ole Miss

Pete Golding might not be able to control Lane Kiffin’s coaches’ chaos, but he is making sure he does everything in his control to fight back. Following that notion, Golding and his staff made a significant addition to the team by bringing in LSU offensive lineman Carius Curne.

Curne appeared in eight games for LSU in the 2025 season and made five starts as a freshman. At 6’5” and 320 pounds, he brings immediate size, experience, and SEC-tested depth to the Ole Miss offensive line. Especially after Micah Pettus, Can East, Kavion Broussard, and Mana Taimani entered the portal.

This comes as a massive hit for Lane Kiffin, who’s already facing scrutiny after his move to pull his coaches back to Baton Rouge. His move comes after Curne described his frustrating final stretch with the Tigers.

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Over the weekend, he claimed that LSU was trying to stop him from transferring by delaying his documents that were needed for the move. But despite that, he came to Ole Miss, making it clear that Pete Golding’s effect is catching eyes.

“Holding my paperwork, trying to prevent me from opportunity is crazy work… I just want to ball out,” Curne said on X.

Now, let’s wait and see if all these risky moves help Kiffin in the 2026 season or not!