Lane Kiffin’s decision to leave the Ole Miss Rebels in the middle of a College Football Playoff run to become the new head coach of the LSU Tigers is easily one of the biggest stories in all of sports over the last month.

(It was the biggest story in sports until Wednesday when Michigan shockingly fired head coach Sherrone Moore, who was subsequently arrested and charged with felony third-degree home invasion and two misdemeanors — stalking in a domestic relationship and breaking and entering.)

Anyway, Kiffin’s decision has been polarizing to say the least. A lot of fans and media members are upset that he’s not finishing the season at Ole Miss, while others understand that he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be the head coach at LSU (the timing of the college football calendar wouldn’t allow Kiffin to do both).

Former Tennessee Vols head coach Derek Dooley shares thoughts on Lane Kiffin

Former Vols head coach Derek Dooley appeared on Outkick’s Hot Mic this week and shared some thoughts on Kiffin’s decision to leave Ole Miss for LSU before the Rebels’ season was over.

Dooley, who ironically took over from Kiffin as the head coach at Tennessee in early 2010, blamed college football for not having a more NFL-style calendar to avoid the chaos surrounding Kiffin’s decision.

“Well, my first thought was I’m not sure why anybody was surprised at anything,” said Dooley. “I had the benefit of being in the National Football League for nine years. And in the NFL, everything about the league is set up for [what’s best for the] league first — not what’s best for the Cowboys or what’s best for the Giants or what’s best for the Patriots. It’s the league first. College athletics is not structured that way. And so whenever something is happening — Lane did what he thought was best for him. Ole Miss did what they thought was best for them. LSU did what they thought was best for their program. And frankly, it’s hard to fault anybody who’s thinking that way.”

“Now, if we want some change in all of that, then it’s so important that we get some leadership and some guardrails around our college football system, because it is a mess. Rules get enacted, and there’s no thought about the unintended consequences. And this has been going on for a long time. So, I’m glad, in a lot of ways, that it’s bringing some awareness to some of the issues.”

“Listen, college football is still just an incredibly popular sport,” added Dooley. “I don’t buy the notion that it’s on its heels and everything’s a disaster. It’s not. It’s phenomenal. But there are a lot of things they need to do to get their house in order to prevent some of these situations that, really, the people who are suffering the most are the players….I wish they could do things exactly like the NFL, but the way the system is set up, without employees and a collective bargaining agreement, it’s just really legally impossible. And so, that’s why the NCAA, anytime they try to enact a rule, they find themselves in court.”

I think Dooley is spot on there. If you want to focus on Kiffin’s decision and whether it was the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do, then that’s your prerogative. But it’s a waste of time. Kiffin made the decision he made. That part is over. The goal for everyone in college football should now be to be how to stop coaches and players from being in this position again in the future.

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Lane Kiffin has only been the head coach of the LSU Tigers for a few days, but some folks are already guessing what the next stop in his career will be. It’s possible that Kiffin could choose to stay at LSU until he retires from college football, but his career path suggests this isn’t his […]

Zach Ragan