Lane Kiffin lets four LSU assistants return to Ole Miss for College Football Playoff run against Tulane

Lane Kiffin is already putting together his coaching staff at LSU, but four of his current assistants that left Ole Miss to join him in Baton Rouge are reportedly heading 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 are joining offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. at Ole Miss to help him and new coach Pete Golding prepare for the team’s first round matchup against the Tulane Green Wave, per 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, Oklahoma, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)

Tight ends coach Joe Cox, wide receivers coach George McDonald, assistant quarterbacks coach Dane Stevens and slot wide receivers coach Sawyer Jordan arrived at the Ole Miss campus on Monday, according to the report.

Kiffin ultimately allowed the coaches to head back to Oxford to help “the staff and players maximize the opportunity ahead in the playoff appearance,” which is the Rebels’ first since the CFP was founded.

OLE MISS-LANE KIFFIN DIVORCE TAKES ANOTHER DRAMATIC TURN AS ATHLETIC DIRECTOR SEEMINGLY BACKS PLAYERS’ DISPUTE

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 the departure of Brian Kelly midseason.

It’s a familiar foe for the Rebels, as they faced Tulane earlier this season in a 45-10 rout on Sept. 20.

The divorce between Kiffin and Ole Miss hasn’t been the most amicable, though, as Rebels athletic director Keith Carter disputed several claims that 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 publicly that I’m not sure are totally accurate,” Carter told SuperTalk Mississippi.

Carter did say that Kiffin and his representatives were given several weeks’ notice that coaching Ole Miss in any potential playoff games was a nonstarter.

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 denied it “despite the team also asking him to allow me to keep coaching.”

But one of Kiffin’s players refuted that claim as well. Offensive lineman Brycen Sanders quickly went to X after seeing Kiffin’s statement.

LSU football head coach Lane Kiffin speaks at South Stadium Club at Tiger Stadium on Dec. 1, 2025 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.   (Matthew Hinton/Imagn Images)

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“I think that everyone that was in that room would disagree,” Sanders posted.

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