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Lane Kiffin is already assembling his coaching staff at LSU, but four of his current assistants who left Ole Miss to join him in Baton Rouge are reportedly returning to Oxford.
The Rebels, after finishing the year 11-1 with Kiffin as head coach, are in the College Football Playoff, which begins next weekend.
As a result, LSU assistants are joining offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. at Ole Miss to help him and new coach Pete Golding prepare for the team’s first-round game against the Tulane Green Wave, according to ESPN.
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Mississippi head coach Lane Kiffin watches his team play Oklahoma in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Norman, Oklahoma, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. (Alonzo Adams/AP Photo)
Tight ends coach Joe Cox, wide receivers coach George McDonald, assistant quarterbacks coach Dane Stevens and wide receivers coach Sawyer Jordan arrived on the Ole Miss campus Monday, according to the report.
Kiffin ultimately allowed the coaches to return to Oxford to help “the staff and players maximize upcoming playoff opportunities,” which is the Rebels’ first since the inception of the CFP.
OLE MISS-LANE KIFFIN’S DIVORCE TAKES ANOTHER DRAMATIC TURNS AS ATHLETIC DIRECTOR APPEARS TO SUPPORT PLAYERS’ DISPUTE
Weis was also someone Kiffin allowed to return to Oxford after the latter made the decision to take over as the Tigers’ next head coach following Brian Kelly’s mid-season departure.
It’s a familiar foe for the Rebels, who faced Tulane earlier this season in a 45-10 loss on Sept. 20.
The divorce between Kiffin and Ole Miss was not the most amicable, however, as Rebels athletic director Keith Carter disputed several of Kiffin’s claims that he was barred from coaching Ole Miss in the CFP.
Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin in the fourth quarter against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium on November 2, 2024. (Nelson Chenault/Imagn Images)
“A lot of things that have been made public that I’m not sure are completely accurate,” Carter told SuperTalk Mississippi.
Carter said Kiffin and his representatives were given several weeks’ notice that dragging Ole Miss into any potential playoff game was a failure.
Kiffin said in his farewell message to the Rebels that he was asked to “finish a historic six-season run with this year’s team by leading Ole Miss to the playoffs,” but Carter denied this “although the team also asked him to allow me to continue coaching.”
But one of Kiffin’s players also refuted that claim. Offensive lineman Brycen Sanders quickly went to X after seeing Kiffin’s statement.
LSU head football coach Lane Kiffin speaks at the South Stadium Club at Tiger Stadium on December 1, 2025 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Matthew Hinton/Imagn Images)
“I think everyone in this room would disagree,” Sanders posted.
