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As the Ole Miss Rebels prepare for their College Football Playoff (CFP) game this Saturday, it’s hard not to think that Lane Kiffin isn’t on the sideline.
Kiffin helped the Rebels earn their first CFP appearance, but left after the final regular season game to become LSU’s new head coach.
Kiffin’s decision brought a bitter end to a program that had built well over the past six seasons. It’s one that has had an impact on both current players and students, as well as alumni like former New Orleans Saints running back Deuce McAllister.
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NFL legend Deuce McAllister gives back to the New Orleans hospitality and military community during the Crown Royal #GenerosityHour on November 22, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Josh Brasted/Getty Images)
McAllister, who played for the Rebels from 1997-2000, can speak for many Ole Miss supporters when he says there was disappointment and pain when Kiffin decided to go to Baton Rouge.
“Immediately there’s contempt, there’s fury, there’s anger, there’s every other bad word. Above all, there’s hurt,” McAllister told The Athletic. “Because you thought there was trust. You thought there was real trust and real care. And I don’t mean it wasn’t, it just didn’t end up that way. In the long run, you can’t take away the success.”
Since Kiffin’s departure, there has been fallout and conflicting statements from both sides, starting with his statement to the Rebel faithful.
LANE KIFFIN ALLOWS FOUR LSU ASSISTANTS TO RETURN TO OLE MISS FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS AGAINST TULANE
“I was hoping to complete a historic six-season run with this year’s team by leading Ole Miss through the postseason, capitalizing on the team’s incredible success and their commitment to finishing strong, and investing everything in a postseason run with guardrails in place to protect the program in all areas of concern,” Kiffin’s statement read. “My request was refused by [athletic director] Keith Carter although the team also asked him to allow me to continue training them so that they could better maintain their high level of performance. »
Carter disputed several of Kiffin’s assertions in his first public comments on the issue.
“A lot of things that have been made public that I’m not sure are completely accurate,” Carter told SuperTalk Mississippi.
Deuce Mcallister of the Mississippi Rebels runs with the ball during a game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi on October 3, 1998. (Getty Images)
Carter said Kiffin and his representatives were given several weeks’ notice that dragging the Rebels into any potential playoff game was in fact a failure.
“It was very clear that coaching in the playoffs was not going to be an option for Coach Kiffin several weeks ago,” Carter said.
Additionally, one of Kiffin’s Ole Miss players, Spencer Sanders, disputed his coach’s assertion that the players wanted him to coach their remaining games in the CFP.
“I think everyone in this room would disagree,” Sanders posted on X.
Fellow offensive lineman Jayden Williams echoed Sanders’ sentiment: “Let them know. Every single person.”
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)
Since then, Kiffin has allowed four assistants who followed him to LSU to return to Oxford to help the Rebels prepare Tulane for the first round of the CFP on Saturday.
