Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU in November, walking away from a program on the verge of its first College Football Playoff appearance. Within days, Rebels fans had turned on him completely. Pete Golding, the defensive coordinator who inherited the job, used that reaction as his entire pitch to keep quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy from doing the same thing.

Golding told both players to look up how Ole Miss fans were talking about Kiffin now, according to comments he made at SEC Media Days, relayed by ESPN’s David Hale. His point was blunt: a fan base that would have built Kiffin a statue three days earlier suddenly wanted nothing to do with him. “They wouldn’t p**s on him if he was on fire,” Golding said, warning that the same thing would happen to Chambliss and Lacy if they left too.

His larger point wasn’t about punishment, though. Golding told them a legacy built in Oxford would matter more over time than any short-term payday, and that fans forgive very little once someone walks away.

Kiffin had just led Ole Miss to an 11-1 regular season and its first playoff berth when he left for a reported seven-year, $91 million deal at LSU. The adoration Rebels fans once had for him turned into resentment almost overnight.

Chambliss admitted LSU had crossed his mind after Kiffin left, telling reporters back in January it was a real consideration. “At the end of the day, I just made the right decision,” he said, adding that he felt he owed his loyalty to Ole Miss and the community there.

Lacy said the pitch played a role in his own decision too. “It most definitely made a difference,” he said, framing his choice as being about legacy rather than simply following a coach.

Golding’s message wasn’t just talk. It shaped who Ole Miss kept and who it lost, and that fallout is still playing out heading into the season.

Ole Miss now gets to keep its biggest stars

Not everyone stayed in Oxford. Edge rusher Princewill Umanmielen, linebacker TJ Dottery, receiver Winston Watkins and offensive lineman Devin Harper all followed Kiffin to LSU through the transfer portal.

Chambliss and Lacy didn’t, and that decision could carry real weight this season. Chambliss threw for 3,937 yards, 22 touchdowns and just three interceptions last year, completing 66.1% of his passes, while adding 527 rushing yards and eight scores on the ground.

Before Ole Miss, he’d already won a Division II national championship at Ferris State. He’s now eligible for a sixth college season, with a chance to cement his place among the program’s best quarterbacks.

Lacy was just as vital. The Doak Walker Award finalist ran for 1,567 yards and 24 touchdowns on 5.1 yards per carry, adding 29 catches out of the backfield, all career and program bests. Together, Chambliss and Lacy are a big reason many expect Ole Miss to open the season inside the national top 10.

That decision to stay gets its biggest test on Sept. 19, when Kiffin brings LSU back to Oxford to face the team, and the players, he left behind.