Lane Kiffin’s LSU Coaches Head Back to Ole Miss—With Noncompetes

Less than two weeks ago, Lane Kiffin gave his Ole Miss assistants an ultimatum: Get on the plane with him to Baton Rouge, or he couldn’t guarantee a new job for them at LSU. Now those staffers are flying back to Mississippi for a playoff run.

On Monday, four LSU offensive coaches who followed Kiffin from Mississippi returned to Oxford to help prepare and coach the Rebels for their upcoming College Football Playoff game against Tulane. The coaches returned to campus with Kiffin’s blessing to give defensive-coordinator-turned-permanent-head coach Pete Golding additional help ahead of the program’s first CFP appearance. 

“Go win it all!!!!” Kiffin tweeted with a dove emoji as a response to the report.

Tight ends coach Joe Cox, wide receivers coach George McDonald, assistant quarterbacks coach Dane Stevens, and slot receivers coach Sawyer Jordan are the four coaches who rejoined the Rebels and are expected to be with the team throughout its CFP run, ESPN reported. 

They join offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., who is taking the same role under Kiffin at LSU but running Mississippi’s offense during the postseason.

The five assistants signed a binding memorandum of understanding with LSU that includes a noncompete clause, a Baton Rouge radio host reported; they are required to return to LSU as soon as Ole Miss’s season ends. The term sheets they signed with LSU require the coaches to pay 300% of their salary should they leave LSU before March 2026, according to The New Orleans Advocate, giving the Tigers financial protection while the coaches are out on loan. 

An LSU spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The 11–1 Rebels host Tulane on Dec. 20 in the first round of the CFP; it’s a rematch of the Sept. 20 game that Mississippi won 45–10. No. 6 seed Ole Miss would face Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 with a victory over the Green Wave. 

Amid his ugly breakup with the school, Kiffin tried to pressure Rebels administrators into letting him coach the team after taking the LSU job. Kiffin was 55–19 in his six seasons there. 

“I was hoping to complete a historic six-season run with this year’s team by leading Ole Miss through the playoffs …. and investing everything into a playoff run with guardrails in place to protect the program in any areas of concern,” Kiffin said in a statement after he left Ole Miss for LSU. “My request to do so was denied by [Mississippi AD] Keith Carter, despite the team also asking him to allow me to keep coaching them so they could better maintain their high level of performance.” (Some Ole Miss players have denied that they asked Kiffin to stay.)

LSU has said it will pay Kiffin the playoff bonuses he was supposed to receive in his Ole Miss contract.  He already netted a $150,000 bonus for the Rebels hosting a CFP game and would get $250,000 for a berth in the quarterfinals. Should Ole Miss beat Georgia and make the semifinals, Kiffin would be paid $500,000 and make $750,000 and $1 million for an appearance in the championship game and a national title, respectively. LSU officials told reporters Tuesday that the school would have let Kiffin coach Mississippi throughout the CFP if Carter had granted his request.