Lane Kiffin has said a lot since leaving his post at Ole Miss for a new opportunity as the head football coach at LSU. Kiffin has led the public to believe he was given a last-second notice that he would not be able to coach in the College Football Playoff and that the Ole Miss players wanted him on the sidelines, despite his decision to jump ship. These statements have been met with pushback from folks directly involved in what was a chaotic weekend in Oxford.
Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter joined Mornings with Richard Cross on Wednesday to tell his side of the story, offering his perspective on how Kiffin’s departure really went down. While Kiffin said he was not informed until Sunday morning that he would not be leading the Rebels’ postseason charge, Carter painted a different picture, noting that the head coach was given ample warning that he would not be a part of a playoff run if he takes another job.
“There’s been a lot of things he’s said publicly that I’m not sure are totally accurate. Both Coach [Kiffin] and his representation knew several weeks ago that coaching in the playoffs was not going to be an option if he was not the Ole Miss head coach,” Carter said, adding that Kiffin’s account of the situation was “not accurate.”
On Sunday, Kiffin posted on X that his request to “complete a historic six-year run” with this year’s Rebel team was denied by Carter, despite the players asking the athletic director to let him remain in Oxford for the postseason. Carter disputed that claim, highlighting that the Ole Miss football team’s leadership council, which serves as a mouthpiece for all of the players, was not gung-ho over the idea of keeping the guy who left them for another program to be part of a pursuit for a national championship.
Carter met with the leadership council Sunday morning to hear their thoughts on the next steps for the program. Players on the leadership council then wanted to speak with Kiffin after talking with the athletic director. Disgruntled with Kiffin reportedly not answering a phone call from Carter, players reportedly confronted their head coach with a lion’s share of the Rebel leadership group telling their head coach that they do not want him around any longer.
“The leadership group of our football team is an amazing group of young men. They were fantastic and have been. I know most of those guys, and to spend some time with them Sunday morning was great,” Carter said.
“I’ll let them kind of tweet out what they want to tweet out and give information that they want to give. But I don’t think the way he portrayed that meeting was accurate,” he continued. “There was a lot of pushback to him leaving. … I think begging for him to stay is an overstatement. I think our players are starting to show maybe what really happened in that meeting.
Several players echoed the athletic director’s sentiments. Bricen Sanders, who anchors the offensive line at center, weighed in, writing on social media, “‘Despite the team asking me to keep coaching.’ I think everyone that was in that room would disagree,” in a response to Kiffin’s statement.
“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
Right tackle Jayden Williams, who was a part of the 2022 season that derailed as Kiffin flirted with an offer to be Auburn’s frontman, echoed Sanders’ sentiments. “Let em know!! Every single person,” Williams said in response to the center’s allegation that the players did not agree with what Kiffin said.
Let em’ know‼️ Every single person‼️ https://t.co/LWxdNdTwVc
— jayden williams (@jaydenkwilliams) December 3, 2025
Standout linebacker Suntarine Perkins said this in response to his former head coach’s statement, “That was not the message you said in the meeting room. Everybody that was in there can vouch on this.”
That was not the message you said in the meeting room. Everybody that was in there can vouch on this . https://t.co/tssQmvGgQ3
— suntarine perkins (@suntarine) December 3, 2025
Kiffin even took shots at Ole Miss fans, something he had grown quite accustomed to doing, when being introduced as the head of LSU’s football program on Monday. The now-Tiger frontman alleged that Ole Miss fans attempted to run him off the road when he had left the Ole Miss campus en route to the Oxford airport. Carter had no input on the validity of Kiffin’s statements, other than to point to a social media post by Mississippi Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell, which humorously negated Kiffin’s contention.
“Contrary to any rumors or any other allegations, there’s been no incidents where our Highway Patrol state troopers were involved in any sort of accident trying to run Coach Kiffin off the road when he was leaving Oxford last weekend,” said Tindell, who was imitating Kiffin’s signature look in the video by donning a visor and walking a golden lab that looks like Lane’s dog, Juice. “He had a safe trip, and he’s on his way.”
🚨ATTENTION EVERYONE: Important message from MDPS Commissioner @TindellSean regarding allegations made that someone attempted to run Coach @Lane_Kiffin off the road Sunday in Oxford.
Disclaimer: this is not Juice in the video, but we do know he was left in good hands. pic.twitter.com/frCb6i7uNo
— MS DPS (@MissDPS) December 3, 2025
Legendary former Ole Miss and New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, however, joked that he may or may not have played a role in running Kiffin’s vehicle — which was guided by a police escort, as confirmed by Tindell — off the road.
Oops! https://t.co/2isRnUoAdo
— Eli Manning (@EliManning) December 2, 2025
As for the remainder of the 2025-26 football season, Ole Miss came in at No. 6 in the most recent College Football Playoff rankings. The Rebels are being led by defensive coordinator-turned-head coach Pete Golding and a bulk of the staff that Kiffin had assembled, including offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., who is returning to Oxford for the playoff run despite hopping on a plane to Baton Rouge over the weekend.
While Kiffin said he “allowed” Weis to return to Oxford to coach in the playoff, Carter claimed that the offensive coordinator had been committed to doing so from the get-go, even prior to earning his boss’s blessing. Carter diplomatically hinted that Weis was caught up in a hostile attempt by Kiffin to leave Ole Miss without offensive staffers during the postseason out of spite.
“We had been talking to Charlie about coming back and calling plays. Charlie was committed to that from the very first moment,” Carter said. “Honestly, I think Charlie was put in a little bit of a tough spot with some of the ways he was asked he was to go to Baton Rouge. But man, I could not be more fired up about having Charlie Weis back here.”
The Rebels will know their ultimate playoff positioning when the bracket is released Sunday but remain in a strong position to host – even without Kiffin present.
