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Lane Kiffin proved to be a big winner on Saturday despite not coaching a game.
The Ole Miss Rebels defeated the Tulane Green Wave in the first round of the College Football Playoff. The Rebels’ victory earned Kiffin a $250,000 payday thanks to the terms of his departure from the program to take the LSU Tigers job.
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New LSU head coach Lane Kiffin speaks in the South Stadium Club at Tiger Stadium on Dec. 1, 2025. (Matthew Hinton/Imagn Images)
LSU agreed to pay its playoff bonuses if Ole Miss continued to win in the playoffs, according to CBS Sports. If the Rebels make a run and win the national championship, Kiffin could be looking at a bonus of up to $1 million.
Ole Miss cruised to a 41-10 victory over Tulane. Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was beaten up, but still managed to finish with three touchdowns in the win – two rushing scores and a passing touchdown.
Kiffin congratulated Ole Miss on their win.
Tulane football coach Jon Sumrall, left, and Mississippi football coach Pete Golding meet before the College Football Playoff game Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Oxford, Mississippi. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
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“Congratulations to all the coaches and players @OleMissFB and especially @CoachGolding and watching his 2 boys on the sidelines,” Kiffin wrote on the X. “Great win today.”
It was Pete Golding’s first victory as head coach at Ole Miss. With the pressure on Golding’s shoulders to step out of the shadow of Kiffin, he said it was helpful to have players who “actually enjoy playing together and they don’t want it to end.”
Ole Miss defensive coordinator Bryan Brown had high praise for Golding’s “swag.”
Lane Kiffin will replace Brian Kelly as head coach on December 1, 2025. (Matthew Hinton/Imagn Images)
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“He controls the room. He controls the narrative in anything he wants to control,” Brown said. “The guys believe in him, just like they do defensively, and you can see that transfer to our full team. He’s just a great person, a great coach, a great motivator … and is going to be a heck of a coach for a long, long time.”
