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Lane Kiffin is already assembling his coaching staff at LSU, but four of his current assistants who left Ole Miss to join him in Baton Rouge are reportedly headed back to Oxford.
The Rebels, after finishing the year 11-1 with Kiffin as head coach, are in the College Football Playoff, which begins next weekend.
As a result, the LSU assistants join offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. at Ole Miss to help him and new coach Pete Golding prepare for the team’s first-round game against the Tulane Green Wave, according to ESPN.
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Mississippi head coach Lane Kiffin watches his team play against Oklahoma during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. (Alonzo Adams/AP Photo)
Tight ends coach Joe Cox, wide receivers coach George McDonald, assistant quarterbacks coach Dane Stevens and slot wide receivers coach Sawyer Jordan arrived on the Ole Miss campus on Monday, according to the report.
Kiffin ultimately allowed the coaches to return to Oxford to help “the staff and players maximize opportunities ahead in a playoff appearance,” the Rebels’ first since the CFP was founded.
OLE MISS-LANE KIFFIN DIVORCE TAKES ANOTHER DRAMATIC TURN AS ATHLETIC DIRECTOR APPEARS TO BACK PLAYERS’ DISPUTES
Weis was also someone Kiffin allowed to return to Oxford after the latter made the decision to take over as the Tigers’ next head coach following Brian Kelly’s midseason departure.
It’s a familiar foe for the Rebels as they met Tulane earlier this season in a 45-10 rout on Sept. 20.
However, the breakup between Kiffin and Ole Miss has not been the most amicable, as Rebels athletic director Keith Carter disputed several claims Kiffin made about being barred from coaching Ole Miss in the CFP.
Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin in the fourth quarter against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Nov. 2, 2024. (Nelson Chenault/Imagn Images)
“A lot of things in public that I’m not sure are completely accurate,” Carter told SuperTalk Mississippi.
Carter said Kiffin and his representatives were given several weeks’ notice that coaching Ole Miss in any potential playoff game was a non-starter.
Kiffin said in his farewell message to the Rebels that he asked to “complete a historic six-season run with this year’s team by leading Ole Miss through the playoffs,” but Carter declined “despite the team also asking him to allow me to continue coaching.”
But one of Kiffin’s players also denied that claim. Offensive lineman Brycen Sanders quickly went to the X after seeing Kiffin’s statement.
LSU head football coach Lane Kiffin speaks in the South Stadium Club at Tiger Stadium on December 1, 2025 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Matthew Hinton/Imagn Images)
“I think anyone who was in that room would disagree,” Sanders wrote.
