Six months later, LSU AD Verge Ausberry admits Ole Miss got the Lane Kiffin situation right

Wait, frequent sense would have prevailed if the LSU administration was put in the identical place by Lane Kiffinor every other coach for that matter?

Over the previous 5 months, the story round Kiffin bolting from Ole Miss two weeks earlier than the Rebels would begin their quest for a College Football Playoff title has centered round, in Kiffin’s thoughts, the thought that he wished to educate the Rebels whereas additionally being the head coach at LSU.

In actuality, none of that made sense, regardless of the way you sliced ​​the cake. Ole Miss Athletic Director Keith Carter was not going to permit Kiffin to grow to be a strolling billboard for a rival workforce, whereas at the identical time having an open door to take gamers with him to Baton Rouge.

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You can agree or disagree with the mindset of Rebels’ AD Keith Carter, however as soon as Kiffin instructed him on the Saturday following the Egg Bowl that he was not signing a brand new contract with Ole Miss and taking the LSU job, the dialog round him staying in Oxford for the CFP was over.

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Ole Miss resolution relating to Kiffin and CFP had already been made

Matter of reality, it was over a month earlier. Carter had already made it a degree of emphasis that if Kiffin have been to go away, he was not teaching Ole Miss in the postseason.

So, any sort of revisionist historical past is simply that: a screenwriter making an attempt to rewrite the ending.

As we reported quite a few instances throughout this whole debacle, the Ole Miss administration was not oblivious to what was transpiring exterior its constructing. Whether that was Florida officers flying into Oxford for a go to throughout a bye-week, or Kiffin participating with LSU officers in several manners over the closing few weeks of the Rebels’ common season.

But, misplaced in the present actuality of the situation was this mindset from some throughout school soccer that Kiffin ought to’ve been afforded the alternative to educate Ole Miss in the college football playoff. Whether it was Nick Saban, somebody inside the ESPN group, or LSU followers making an attempt to proceed poking the bear, the fixed opinions have been by no means ending.

Nick Saban speaks throughout ESPN’s College GameDay at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 25, 2025. (Carly Mackler/Getty Images)

Mind you, this is able to’ve been a horrible resolution on the a part of Ole Miss, provided that the storyline wouldn’t middle on the historic season unfolding, however extra so in the direction of Lane Kiffin getting into every recreation as the head coach at two totally different SEC colleges.

Honestly, the indisputable fact that we’re nonetheless having this dialog 5 months later is baffling, however Lane has achieved himself zero favors over the previous few months by way of public relations, most not too long ago along with his tackle how tough it was to recruit at instances in Oxford with past racial tensions nonetheless supposedly rearing its head.

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But, that is simply Lane being Lane, doing all the things he can to maintain the dialog on him, which I can not say is stunning in the least.

LSU athletic director lastly says the quiet half out loud

Fortunately, we lastly have frequent sense popping out of Baton Rouge, in the type of LSU Athletic Director Verge Ausberry.

Should Lane have been allowed to educate Ole Miss throughout the playoff run, regardless of already taking the LSU job per week earlier than the postseason was set to start?

Let’s change it round, lets.

If LSU would’ve had Lane Kiffin as its head coach, and a rival college employed him throughout the Tigers’ playoff run, would the Tigers administration have allowed their head coach to roam the sidelines throughout the CFP whereas additionally being the head coach at an opposing college?

“I’d probably be like, ‘Nah, we ain’t doing that. No,'” Verge Ausberry instructed USA TODAY Sports. “But, that hand wasn’t dealt with.”

Head soccer coach Lane Kiffin and Athletic Director Verge Ausberry of the LSU Tigers arrive at Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport in Baton Rouge, La., on Nov. 30, 2025. (Gus Stark/University Images)

Wait, so in spite of everything of the wild opinions that arose from Kiffin accepting the LSU job, whereas nonetheless lobbying to educate Ole Miss in the CFP, the LSU athletic director would’ve instructed the head coach to get on out of city?

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“If I’m Ole Miss, I probably would’ve made the same decision,” Verge Ausberry said. “I know LSU would’ve made the same decision. I don’t blame anyone.”

Well, would you have a look at that.

The LSU athletic director is a brilliant man, who understands the situation Ole Miss was put in at the moment, as a result of greater than probably there might come a time when he has to take care of the identical sort of situation, heaven forbid for his personal psychological sanity.

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But, we will now transfer on to extra essential issues, like what’s about to occur with the wage cap that happened from the House settlement. Or, the ongoing battle between conferences not named the SEC and the fight for CFP expansion.

It’s shaping as much as be a hostile few months throughout college athleticsand it has nothing to do with what transpired in Baton Rouge final December.