Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss are already moving in separate directions after his decision to depart for LSU. He wanted to finish out the season with the Rebels, who are 11-1 and on the verge of the first College Football Playoff appearance in program history.
That idea was shot down by Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter, who asked Kiffin not to attend a consequential team meeting Sunday where the players learned defensive coordinator Pete Golding would take over as head coach. Now that a few days have gone by, Carter discussed Kiffin’s chaotic exit with ESPN’s Marty Smith, where the Ole Miss AD shared that he wished the departure went a different way.
"You can't deny the success. You can't deny the wins. You can't deny the program is in a much better place than it was when Lane got here,” Carter said, according to Smith. “I just wish the end would have been handled better, some of the last-minute stuff that happened, and is still ongoing a bit—I wish was different.
“We can look at the success as tangible and real... Just, man... The exit was really tough."
Smith noted that Carter would not elaborate on the ongoing items, which is presumably Kiffin taking members of the offensive coaching staff with him to LSU. Kiffin allegedly threatened to take staffers with him immediately as leverage to continue coaching the Rebels through their postseason run, but administration did not budge. Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. will go to LSU with Kiffin, but he will remain with Ole Miss to help call the offense through the CFP.
Kiffin’s exit came after he reportedly declined a massive offer from Florida before deciding between staying at Ole Miss and leaping for LSU. What followed was a long wait, delayed team meetings and his eventual decision to leave the Rebels for the Tigers. Now, Golding will lead Ole Miss ahead as Kiffin continues to assemble his new staff.
The saga which led to his eventual departure was certainly rocky, and Carter wishes the now former Ole Miss coach would have handled the situation vastly different.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ole Miss AD Makes His Feelings About Lane Kiffin’s Bumpy Exit Clear.
