Lane Kiffin is still hurting the Ole Miss Rebels after leaving them for the LSU Tigers. Kiffin, who parted ways with the program following the Egg Bowl win, was not allowed to coach the Rebels into the playoffs, even though he wanted to. In exchange, he’s making moves ahead of Ole Miss’ Fiesta Bowl matchup against the Miami Hurricanes, which former Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher alleged were “selfish and stupid.”
Actually, early on, LSU and Ole Miss came up with an arrangement to let several Tigers-bound coaches stay with the program for their College Football Playoff run. However, the Rebels surprised everyone when they defeated the Georgia Bulldogs and earned their place in the CFP semifinals. However, just ahead of the matchup, it’s been reported that tight end coach Joe Cox and wide receivers coach George McDonald will not be with the Rebels for their Fiesta Bowl game.
Former national title-winning coach Fisher criticized Kiffin’s decision to call back his coaches and not allowing them to stay with Ole Miss till the end of the playoffs.
“It’s selfish. That’s what it is. It’s stupid,” Fisher said.
According to the former Aggies coach, Kiffin didn’t really care about the kids and that he only allowed LSU-bound coaches to stay in Oxford because he didn’t want to take a “PR hit.” Fisher thinked that Kiffin assumed that Ole Miss won’t be able to take down Georgia and that at the end of the day he “would be called hero.”
“Now he’s got egg on his face because the real Lane came back out,” Fisher said. “If those guys were allowed to coach the first game, they should be allowed to coach the fourth. Because those kids are doing something you get one time in your life to ever do, literally. That team, those guys, one time. And as a coach, listen, I know I’ve left a job. I get that. But if you took them all and said they’re never coming back, that’s fine. You set the rules of the game. You don’t change the rules in the middle of the game. As a coach, it’s hurting the kids, and it pisses me off.”
Fisher shared his opinion that if Kiffin allowed them to coach the first game, he should not go back on his decision and take them away.
Amid Coaching Chaos, Ole Miss HC Focused On Fiesta Bowl
Ole Miss head coach and Lane Kiffin’s replacement, Pete Golding, chose not to be distracted by everything going on with LSU concerning coaching personnel. He had already said before that even though those coaches have already signed a contract to be with LSU, they can stay with the program for the remainder of the playoffs.
“They have another job that is paying them, and they have a responsibility,” Golding said. “And at this time, the way the calendar is now, and I wasn’t going to get into this, but they’re trying to — they have 35 guys that are in the portal, and they have to build a team [at LSU].
“So, obviously, do they want to be here? You’re damn right they do. But again, I mean the situation that it is, right, they’ve got a job to do, and they’ve got to build a team where they’re at. And where the window is right now, we’ve made it when it’s in the semifinals of the national championship.”
In his latest remarks, Golding mentioned that he’s only focused on one thing and that is to beat Miami in the semifinals and enter the national championship game.
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