Lane Kiffin hired as LSU's coach, won't finish season with Ole Miss

LSU's courtship of Lane Kiffin has come to an end, as he's leaving Ole Miss to take the job in Baton Rouge and will not coach the Rebels in the College Football Playoff.

He announced both things Sunday afternoon, the culmination of a weeks-long saga that hung over the sport, prompted vicious debate and puts Kiffin in the unprecedented position of a head coach leaving his team and not coaching them in the College Football Playoff.

"After a lot of prayer and time spent with family, I made the difficult decision to accept the head coaching position at LSU," Kiffin said in a statement Sunday.

His deal with LSU is for seven years and is worth approximately $12 million annually, with the potential for bonuses, a source told ESPN's Pete Thamel. That would make him one of the highest-paid coaches in the sport.

Ole Miss responded quickly, promoting defensive coordinator Pete Golding to the school's full-time coach soon after Kiffin left the football building for LSU.

Kiffin, 50, and the Rebels just wrapped up an 11-1 regular season with a 38-19 win over rival Mississippi State, all but assuring them a berth in the 12-team College Football Playoff.

After saying he would decide Saturday whether he'll coach at Ole Miss or LSU in 2026, Kiffin met with Rebels athletics director Keith Carter and chancellor Glenn Boyce for a couple of hours Saturday at the chancellor's home in Oxford.

He also sought the advice of former Alabama coach Nick Saban and Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll, his former boss at USC, over the past few weeks.

"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, and investing everything into a playoff run with guardrails in place to protect the program in any areas of concern," Kiffin said in his statement.

"My request to do so was denied by Keith Carter despite the team also asking him to allow me to keep coaching them so they could better maintain their high level of performance. Unfortunately, that means Friday's Egg Bowl was my last game coaching the Rebels."

The naming of Golding as the head coach will lead to continuity at Ole Miss in 2026 and beyond, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

"[Golding's] tenure will begin immediately as he leads our program in the pursuit of a national title," Carter said in a statement. "Today's team meeting was a clear indicator of his ability to galvanize our squad. All of our players and coaches are ecstatic and ready to lock arms for a playoff run.

"From the moment he arrived in Oxford, we quickly realized Pete is a coach who could not only lead a program but elevate it to championship status. He has demonstrated an exceptional football mind, but more than that, he has shown a deep understanding of our culture, values and what it means to be part of the Ole Miss family. Simply put, Pete is one of us."

Kiffin's decision was supposed to come Saturday, and there was a delay in part because the result of the Iron Bowl late Saturday impacted whether or not Ole Miss would have played this week. Kiffin also met with some players in the football building on Sunday, and he pointed out in his statement that the players wanted him to coach in the CFP.

Part of the drama unfolding Saturday revolved around Ole Miss staff members and who would end up going with Kiffin. The Rebels' brass wanted to protect their staff to keep things as normal as possible for the postseason. Kiffin would obviously take some of his staff with him, and the timing of those departures came into focus as discussions went on during the day.

Ole Miss officials are being aggressive with staff salaries, as there's a high focus on retention, sources told ESPN.

On the offensive side for Ole Miss, quarterback coach Joe Judge, a longtime NFL coordinator and head coach, has agreed to stay on staff, sources told ESPN. Judge's role hasn't been formalized yet, but Ole Miss officials and Golding made clear early on he was a priority staff member to stay in Oxford. He coached Trinidad Chambliss and Jaxson Dart while in Oxford.

A former Ole Miss player himself, Golding is in his third season on the Rebels' staff after serving five years as a top defensive assistant at Alabama under Saban.

"Ole Miss Football is special," Golding said in a statement. "Since the day I arrived, I've felt the passion, pride and unwavering support of Rebel Nation. This is a place where expectations are high, and football is woven into the fabric of the community. Our mission moving forward is clear: we will play with toughness, discipline and relentless effort in everything we do."

Kiffin's decision included an only-in-the-SEC drama that ensnared three prominent schools, as Florida had expressed interest in Kiffin earlier in their search. When that wasn't reciprocated, they hired Tulane coach Jon Sumrall.

Kiffin has guided the Rebels to a 55-19 record in his six seasons -- only Alabama (67-12) and Georgia (71-8) have more wins in the SEC since the start of the 2020 season. The Rebels have the eighth-most wins among power-conference teams during that stretch.

LSU has a championship brand in multiple sports; state-of-the-art facilities; a rabid, regional fan following; and a legendary, historic home football venue in Tiger Stadium (nicknamed Death Valley), which towers over the banks of the Mississippi River and holds 102,000 spectators -- 38,000 more than Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

The lone football coach of LSU's past four who did not win a national championship was Kelly. He was fired in late October during his fourth season -- a seismic development that also led then-athletic director Scott Woodward to resign under pressure from Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.