Dan Wetzel
As victims go, Lane Kiffin doesn’t seem to be the same.
He could have stayed at Ole Miss, earned more than $10 million a year, led his 11-1 team to a home playoff game and become an icon in a place where he found personal peace. Or he could make more than $10 million a year at LSU while leading a program that has won three national titles this century.
A description of such a fork in life’s path would be fortunate. The result of endless hard work and talent will be something else.
But apparently no one can know a person’s burden until they’ve walked a mile in his hot yoga pants.
According to his resignation statement on social media, it was spiritual, family and mentor guidance that inspired Kiffin to go to LSU, not all those five-star recruits in New Orleans.
“After much prayer and spending time with family, I have made the difficult decision to accept the head coaching position at LSU,” he wrote.
In an interview with Marty Smith of ESPN, Kiffin said, “I had my heart set (on Ole Miss), but I talked to some gurus, coach (Pete) Carroll, coach (Nick) Saban. Especially when Coach Carroll said, ‘Your dad would tell you to go take the shot.'” Kiffin later said: “I talked to God, and he told me it was time to take a new step.”
After following everyone’s advice, Kiffin learned that those evil people at Ole Miss wouldn’t let him coach the Rebels during the College Football Playoff because Kiffin was now, you know, the coach of rival LSU.
Obviously quitting means different things to different people. Ole Miss should be ashamed for having some self-respect.
Kiffin said, “I was hoping to complete a historic six-season run….” “My request to do so was denied by (Rebels athletic director) Keith Carter, while the team also asked him to allow me to continue coaching them so they can better maintain their high level of performance.”
Well, if he had enough hope, Kiffin could have stayed and done it. He didn’t. Trying to portray this as an Ole Miss decision rather than a Lane Kiffin decision is absurd. You are either in or out.
Of course, it was Kiffin’s right to leave. They chose what they believed were greener pastures. This may work; LSU, despite its political dysfunction, is a great place to coach ball.
Kiffin should have simply put out a statement saying that his dream is to win a national title, and as good as Ole Miss has become, he feels his chance to do so is so much better at LSU that it is worth leaving his current players, who made his best and first truly nationally relevant team.
At least this will be his honest opinion.
Lately, Kiffin, 50, has made every effort to portray himself as a more mature version of an immature man. However, ultimately, she is who she is. This includes the qualities that make him a very talented football coach. He is unique.
He may never be known as the coach who challenged title contenders. However, this is his life. This is his reputation.
One of the original sins of college sports was to turn players into life-changers. Yes, it can happen, boys can become men. However, the coach’s job is to win.
A great coach doesn’t have to be loyal or thoughtful or an example of how to live life.
It’s the duality of what you get when you hire Kiffin. He was on a heater in Oxford, winning in a way he never did with USC or Tennessee or the Oakland Raiders.
This looks like that should continue at resource-rich LSU. Along the way, you encounter a colorful circus, a wrestling character with a whistle, a high-wire act that can always go wrong. It rarely ends well — from the airport shootings to the resignation that almost incited a riot to a frustrated Nick Saban.
LSU should just accept it – the good and the not so good. What’s more fun than being a villain? Kiffin may be a problem child, but he’s your problem child. This will probably get you a few more wins on Saturday. He will definitely make you laugh some more on social media.
It worked for Ole Miss, at least until it didn’t. Then the rebels finally had to push him aside. This is Lane Kiffin. In good times you can hardly trust him.
Whatever it was, Carter was great. Perhaps they should have asked Kiffin for his pledge of allegiance a few weeks earlier, when Kiffin’s family visited Gainesville, Florida, as well as Baton Rouge.
Instead, Kiffin took over and created and grew the soap opera, profiting along the way.
Blame was placed on the “calendar,” even if coaches like Kiffin created it. And leaving a championship contender is a personal choice that no one else is making.
The blame was placed on Ole Miss, as if it had to accept a second-class hostage situation out of desperation. It’s better to promote defensive coordinator Pete Golding and try to win with guys who want to be there.
For Kiffin, the thought of winning is all that matters. Not necessarily winning, but Idea To win. Potential playoff teams count more than current teams. Tomorrow means more than today. Next is better than now.
Maybe that mentality is what got him here, getting him all these incredible opportunities, including his new opportunity at LSU, where he has to believe he’s going to win back-to-back national titles.
So go on, do it without any regrets. own it. Take the decision yourself. Master of leaving. The result is one’s own. Anything is possible in Baton Rouge, just not the Victim Lane Act.
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