There has been no shortage of conversation over the past week about whether Ole Miss should have allowed Lane Kiffin to coach the Rebels in the College Football Playoff after he accepted the head coaching position at LSU.
And according to Kiffin, when it comes to the national media, the opinion has been unanimous.
“We presented a plan how that could be done and give the players there the best chance to win in the playoffs. And at the end of the day, that’s their decision, and I respect that,” the new Tigers head coach said, referring to Ole Miss not allowing him to coach the Rebels in the CFP. “We made a good point that may make sense to everybody outside, why the best thing was to keep us all together for the playoffs. It may make sense to all the national media why that made sense to do that. Like [Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter] said, he has to live there, and I totally respect that and I respect their decision, and so appreciative for them.”
Lane Kiffin presented a plan on how he could coach CFP, Ole Miss wasn’t with it
“That may make sense to everyone outside, why the best thing was to keep us all together. It may make sense to all the national media why that made sense. But like you said, he has to live there” pic.twitter.com/ULIM2U6VDR
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) December 1, 2025
While college football coaches are often prone to hyperbole, the idea that “all the national media” thought it would make sense for Lane Kiffin to coach his former team in the playoff after accepting a job at an SEC rival isn’t just a stretch; it’s flatly inaccurate.
Were there some members of the national media who argued for the 50-year-old to be allowed to coach the Rebels in the playoff? Of course. And they just so happened to be some of the industry’s most prominent names. But while ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, Booger McFarland and Stephen A. Smith each publicly argued on Kiffin’s behalf, there were also multiple members of the national media who believed that LSU’s new coach sticking around Oxford for another month (if not longer) was ludicrous.
“Trying to paint this as an Ole Miss decision, not a Lane Kiffin decision, is absurd. You are either in or you are out,” wrote ESPN’s Dan Wetzel, in a column titled, “Lane Kiffin is many things, but he’s certainly no victim in move to LSU.”
“Uh, no,” NBC Sports’ Nicole Auerbach wrote, while relaying Kiffin’s comment on X.
“If he wanted to coach these kids, as he put it, he could have. And the simple answer is he would have remained the Ole Miss football coach,” Paul Finebaum said on Monday’s episode of First Take. “And what does he do? What Lane Kiffin always does. He lights a match to the castle that he built and he runs out of town in the middle of the night… it’s utterly disgraceful. There’s no getting around it.”
Whether Lane Kiffin should have been permitted to coach the Rebels in the playoff is a matter of opinion, but saying “all the national media” thought it made sense simply doesn’t hold up. In fact, there seems to be just as many — if not more — national voices arguing against allowing him to continue to guide Ole Miss’ quest for a national championship, especially as he simultaneously takes over an SEC rival in the transfer portal era.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.