After a weekend's worth of rumors, speculation, and late-night reporting, Lane Kiffin made his next coaching destination official: LSU.
Now to some, mostly in Baton Rouge, this was a major win for the sport, but after battling with Ole Miss AD Keith Carter over whether or not he can finish out the remainder of his season with the Rebels, it's safe to say Kiffin has burned a few bridges along the way out of Oxford.
Discussing Kiffin's exit from Ole Miss and his new chapter at LSU, ex-Pittsburgh Steelers Bill Cowher blasted the journeyman head coach for how he treated his players in Oxford, warning future LSU recruits that he'll only be loyal to them as long as it's convenient for his own job prospects.
“I would just say any player that goes to play for Lane Kiffin, just understand one thing, it’s not about the program. It’s about Lane Kiffin. Because he doesn’t care about the players,” Cowher explained on CBS Sports NFL Today. “He just went through a season, a special season. Players he’s had for four years with an opportunity to go to the playoffs. He’s decided to take them and not only leave them, which I get okay, you want to do that, but now you’re going to take offensive coaches with you and destroy the program and deplete the program. And the dreams of these young men who you said you want to be there and you want to do it with. But if I can’t do it, I’m not going to let you do it yourself.”
Are there Ole Miss players who have worked for four years for a chance to compete for a National Championship who now feel betrayed by the man who recruited them? Most certainly so, as even with Pete Golding locked up as the team's new head coach, few will say the Rebels are as dangerous as they were a week ago. Still, in college football, this is the timeline, and unfortunately, hurt feelings come with the territory.
