Lane Kiffin Believes Ole Miss Could Have Won CFP if He Coached

On Nov. 30, one day after Ole Miss defeated rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl to finish the regular season 11-1, Lane Kiffin decided to take the LSU head coaching job.

Kiffin wanted to remain with Ole Miss for the College Football Playoff. Rebels athletic director Keith Carter decided Kiffin’s duties with the program would end that day and promoted defensive coordinator Pete Golding to head coach before the CFP.

Golding led the Rebels to two CFP wins. The first came at home against Tulane in the first round, winning 41-10. Ole Miss defeated Georgia 39-34 in the CFP quarterfinal in the Sugar Bowl. (The Rebels lost to the Bulldogs 43-35 in Athens during the regular season.)

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Ole Miss gave Miami a run for its money in the CFP semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl but came up short in a 31-27 loss that allowed the Hurricanes to make the national championship game.

Kiffin thinks the outcome in the CFP could have been different if he was on the sidelines, telling Wilson Alexander of On3 that he wished the timing had been different before he left for LSU.

"Obviously, I wish the timing was different,” Kiffin said. “There was no way around it. Tried to do everything possible to still coach and, obviously, that was (athletic director Keith Carter's) decision and understandable. Do I still wish that had happened? Yeah, I do. I wish that would have been allowed to happen. Maybe we would have won it all."

Or maybe the Rebels would have lost to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

Ole Miss couldn’t take the risk that Kiffin could convince Rebels players to transfer to LSU while he was still active in their building. Once Kiffin took the LSU job, it was time to cut the cord.

Golding did an incredible job leading the Rebels in the CFP in a difficult situation. Given the way his team performed in January, there is good reason to think Ole Miss will be in the CFP conversation this season.

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This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 2:40 PM.