After he finally left Ole Miss amid a championship run to become the head coach at rival LSU, Lane Kiffin was adamant that his former players all wanted him to continue coaching them in the College Football Playoff.
Now, Ole Miss players are starting to push back on that sentiment.
“I was hoping to complete a historic six-season run with this year’s team by leading Ole Miss through the playoffs, capitalizing on the team’s incredible success and their commitment to finish strong,” Kiffin wrote in his statement Sunday, adding that Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter denied his request “despite the team also asking him to allow me to keep coaching them so they could better maintain their high level of performance.”
That last part caught the attention of Ole Miss sophomore starting center Brycen Sanders, who shared a different message on social media Tuesday night.
“‘Despite the team asking me to keep coaching.’ I think everyone that was in that room would disagree,” wrote Sanders on X.
“Despite the team asking me to keep coaching”. I think everyone that was in that room would disagree https://t.co/p4g4qDR9XF
— Brycen Sanders (@BrycenSanders1) December 3, 2025
Kiffin painted himself as the tragic victim of circumstance during this process, with much help from certain friends in the college football media. However, that sentiment rang hollow with many people, especially given Kiffin’s history of job-hopping.
We don’t yet know how many of Sanders’ teammates actually shared his sentiments, though reports have emerged that several of them confronted him over his decision to poach staffers. It always stood to reason that a group of players recruited by Kiffin on the verge of a potential national title, only to be abandoned at the worst possible moment, wouldn’t be terribly sentimental about him.
UPDATE: Ole Miss senior linebacker Suntarine Perkins became the second player to refute Kiffin.
“That was not the message you said in the meeting room,” he posted on X. “Everybody that was in there can vouch on this.”
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.