Jimbo Fisher destroys Lane Kiffin in epic rant over the Ole Miss Rebels and LSU Tigers transitional mess
Former national championship-winning head coach Jimbo Fisher’s comments perfectly sum up Lane Kiffin’s embarrassing saga late this season.
The Ole Miss Rebels are so close to doing the funniest thing ever to Lane Kiffin. Regardless of how things play out against the Miami Hurricanes, and potentially the winner of the Oregon vs. Indiana game, the Rebels have already won the divorce.
Kiffin’s departure from Ole Miss to LSU was an embarrassment, and everyone knows who the bad guy is now that this mess has unfolded. How do we know that to be true?
When even former national championship-winning head coaches call you out on national television for being “selfish” and “stupid,” you know you’ve lost. That’s exactly what happened when Jimbo Fisher shared his thoughts on the situation this week.
Jimbo Fisher calls Lane Kiffin’s decisions selfish and stupid ahead of Ole Miss playoff game
For those of you who may not have been following the entire Lane Kiffin saga over the past few months, here’s the summary. Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss were in the middle of their program’s best season ever, but then LSU fired Brian Kelly.
The Tigers and Kiffin began pursuing interest in each other (along with the Florida Gators). Kiffin made the next month all about him as he acted like he hadn’t made his decision to leave until immediately after the conclusion of the regular season, when Ole Miss was 11-1. He became the LSU head coach on Nov. 30, and Ole Miss defensive coordinator named Pete Golding as the full-time replacement.
Kiffin stole staff away from Ole Miss and forced them to play double-duty in the middle of the Rebels’ playoff run. In response to this embarrassing mess, Fisher destroyed Kiffin in an epic rant ahead of the Ole Miss playoff game against the Miami Hurricanes:
“It’s selfish. That’s what it is. It’s stupid. Here’s why I say that,” Fisher said. “He wanted to coach, and thought he didn’t get his way. So he said, ‘Everybody (his coaches), get on the plane with me or you don’t have a job.’ He makes them all go. Then he gets down to LSU and takes a PR hit, because it looks bad that you really don’t care about the kids (the players). So he says [to his staff], ‘Okay, you can go back.’ Here’s where he screwed up. He thought Ole Miss was going to lose to Georgia, and he was going to look like a hero.
“Now, he’s got egg on his face because the real Lane came back out. If those coaches were allowed to coach the first game, they should be allowed to coach the second game. Those kids are doing something that you get to do once in your life. That team, and those guys, one time. As a coach — listen, I know I’ve left a job. I get that. But if you took [all the staff] and said that they’re never coming back, that’s fine. You set the rules of the game.
“You don’t change the rules in the middle of the game. And as a coach, it’s hurting the kids that pisses me off…And people don’t realize this. Charlie [Weis Jr.] called the plays. Lane did not call the plays. He called the game. So, they got him back [for the Fiesta Bowl]. But if [Lane] let [all his coaches] go the first game — go recruit during the week, we can Zoom call the players, have my meeting — but they should be at the game coaching.”
Kiffin will be taking Charlie Weis Jr. (Ole Miss’ offensive coordinator), Dane Stevens (QB coach), Kevin Smith (RB coach), George McDonald (WR coach), Sawyer Jordan (slot WR coach), Joe Cox (TE coach), Chris Kiffin (LB coach), and Lou Spanos (assistant DL coach) with him to LSU. Only Charlie Weis and Kevin Smith will be with the team for the Fiesta Bowl.
Fisher nailed it. It was bad enough that Kiffin stole away over a half dozen staff members from Ole Miss in the middle of the program’s greatest season ever, after leaving the team himself. Going back and forth about whether his coaches are available for the College Football Playoff is ridiculous.
There hasn’t been a single moment or even a single detail from this entire Kiffin transitional mess that has looked good for the former Ole Miss coach. He left Ole Miss to compete for national championships, and he could be doing it right now with the Rebels.
He made the entire back half of the season about himself in the most important season of the program’s history, then walked out at the worst time. He stole half the staff and intentionally sabotaged Ole Miss’ planning and continuity via his demanding and inconsistent behavior toward said staff members. Kiffin couldn’t look any worse — that is, unless Ole Miss wins it all. And that’s certainly what every college football fan outside of Indiana, Oregon, Miami, and LSU is rooting for.
We’ll be back with more Ole Miss Rebels coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!
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