![Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin is interviewed after the game while holding the Ash Verlander Champions Trophy of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. Ole Miss defeated Duke 52-20. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]](https://collegefootballnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/08-08-25-1920x1277.jpg "Lane Kiffin Throws Ole Miss AD Keith Carter Under The Bus For Rebels' CFP Fiasco")
Under the leadership of head coach Lane Kiffin, the Ole Miss Rebels clinched a spot in the College Football Playoff. However, it soon turned into chaos before the last week unfolded.
On November 30, Kiffin brought an end to his time with Ole Miss to take the head coach position at LSU. During a press conference, Kiffin indirectly threw Ole Miss Athletic Director Keith Carter under the bus by stating that he was denied to lead Ole Miss into the playoffs even though he wanted to.
That decision in itself led Kiffin to pull the trigger earlier than he was planning to.
“I was told we couldn’t keep this thing in place and coach the playoffs,” Kiffin said. “So I had already made the decision at that point and informed them Saturday night that this is what we were going to do. And that was a really hard conversation with Keith, really hard. And we kept trying to work through, ‘Okay, yes, there’s disappointment in that, but how can we do the best, knowing that I’m going to be head coach of LSU for the future?
“Down the road, how can we do what’s in the best interest of the players and give them the best chance to win and make a run in the national championship — in the playoffs — and, most likely, in what I said would be the most historic sporting event in the history of the state of Mississippi: a home playoff game?’”
Lane Kiffin says he wasn’t told until Sunday that Ole Miss could not approve of him coaching Ole Miss in the CFP
“Met with the players, I was in their with the players and Keith, and they said ‘Let’s do this’”
Says he found out 30 minutes before meeting it wasn’t happening pic.twitter.com/IdfSleIJry
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) December 1, 2025
Even Ole Miss Players Wanted Lane Kiffin To Stay For CFP
Lane Kiffin further added that even the players who knew that the head coach was moving to LSU wanted Kiffin to lead them into the playoffs. However, despite the players’ request and the wishes of Kiffin himself, the head coach claimed his request was denied.
“And it didn’t work out,” Kiffin added. “And it came back the next day, which is why there was a team meeting, whatever it was, at nine. And I thought it was going that direction. I met with the players, I was in there with Keith, and the players said, ‘Okay, let’s do this.’ And I get it — I understand it. They just couldn’t wrap their head around doing that, and I understand it. And I respect that.”
That’s not the kind of ending anyone might have anticipated but that’s what unravel in Oxford, Mississippi.
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