After weeks of wondering what the future held for Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, we finally have an answer.
Kiffin released a statement on Sunday saying that he was leaving the Rebels to take over as head coach at LSU, and that his departure from Ole Miss was effective immediately. Despite leading the Rebels to an 11-1 campaign through the regular season and an all but certain spot in the College Football Playoff, Kiffin will not be with the team through its postseason run.
In his statement, Kiffin said that he had wished to continue coaching through the end of the year, and while the idea had support from some in the media, it was largely dismissed as untenable. How could Kiffin continue working towards a championship for Ole Miss when he was already building out a roster for LSU’s 2026 run?
Kiffin is not the victim here, and very clearly did this to himself, but it’s worth pointing out that some of this awkwardness could have easily been avoided if the college football calendar was planned out a bit better. Legendary college basketball coach Rick Pitino pointed to the absurdity of the situation, arguing that it never should have been possible for Kiffin to make such a move at this point of the season in the first place.
“I'm not knocking football, but there’s something wrong with their calendar,” Pitino wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I'm at SJU and we are potentially a one seed and can win a National Championship this year, and I leave in March??? What’s going on here?”
Pitino’s point is similar to that made by former Alabama coach Nick Saban on a recent edition of College GameDay, in which he called for an overhaul to the college football schedule.
Again, while all of this could have certainly been avoided had Kiffin signed an extension with Mississippi or even waited until the end of his current contract before nabbing a new job, that’s not how things work on the coaching carousel.
Maybe the entire calamity that was Kiffin’s exit from Ole Miss will be enough to lead to change, as the powers that be in college football certainly don’t want this happening year after year, but in the age of a 12-team playoff, such departures are going to become increasingly common.
Hopefully we have a solution before the next time Kiffin is looking for a job.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rick Pitino Highlights Absurdity of College Football Calendar Amid Lane Kiffin’s Departure.
