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Lane Kiffin proved to be a big winner Saturday even though he didn’t coach a game.
The Ole Miss Rebels defeated the Tulane Green Wave in the first round of the College Football Playoff. The Rebels’ victory gave Kiffin a $250,000 salary thanks to the terms of his departure from the program to take the LSU Tigers job.
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New LSU head coach Lane Kiffin speaks at the South Stadium Club at Tiger Stadium on December 1, 2025. (Matthew Hinton/Imagn Images)
LSU agreed to pay its playoff bonuses if Ole Miss continues to win in the postseason, according to CBS Sports. If the Rebels are successful and win the national championship, Kiffin could receive a bonus of up to $1 million.
Ole Miss earned a 41-10 victory over Tulane. Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was banged up but still managed to finish with three touchdowns in the win – two rushing scores and a passing touchdown.
Kiffin congratulated Ole Miss on the victory.
Tulane football coach Jon Sumrall, left, and Mississippi football coach Pete Golding talk before the College Football Playoff game Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Oxford, Mississippi. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
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“Congrats to all the coaches and players @OleMissFB and especially @CoachGolding and seeing his 2 boys on the bench,” Kiffin wrote on X. “Big win today.”
It was Pete Golding’s first victory as Ole Miss head coach. With the pressure on Golding to step out of Kiffin’s shadow, he said it helps to have players who “actually enjoy playing together and don’t want it to end.”
Ole Miss defensive coordinator Bryan Brown praised Golding’s “swag.”
Lane Kiffin will replace Brian Kelly as head coach on December 1, 2025. (Matthew Hinton/Imagn Images)
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“He controls the room. He controls the narrative in whatever he wants to control,” Brown said. “The guys believe in him just like they do defensively, and you can see it throughout our team. He’s just a great human being, a great coach, a great motivator…and he’s going to be a heck of a coach for a long, long time.”
