Why are we acting like this is anything other than a job for Lane and a valued employee for Ole Miss? Why should both not use all the advantage they have? Would OM be “loyal” to him after a couple of 2-10 seasons? Please! I don’t blame him at all.
Kiffin playing hardball
- Thread starter dawgstudent
- Start date
That’s correct in principle. But LSU would be negligent to just trust Kiffin’s word that he will come after the CFP. Even if they allow him to keep coaching through the CFP, they’d need his signature on some type of contract. Otherwise they could end up totally exposed and totally screwed. And as soon as he signs that, Ole Miss has what they need contractually to cut off his access to their program if they choose.
Shitshow? This is frikin' awesome! I love it, I hope he strings this out longer.
IF this is true, he wants to coach UM through the playoffs, and then leave. Whether he coaches UM through the playoffs or not, he is leaving. So for UM, it boils down to what his buyout is, and what interim coach they have in the wings. Is it worth it to tell him to take a hike? For LSU, is he worth waiting on? If I was LSU, I would want a contract signed now, stating he comes after UM postseason is done.
I love this for all parties involved
Off topic I know, but this is a painful reminder of the time we let our new coach sit in the press box coaching the Green Bay running backs in a divisional playoff game
Hugh Freeze on the phone saying he's ready to return and restore the moral order of the Ole Miss football program.
Sure they can. I think having a secret agreement with LSU in place & actively recruiting current players away would be plenty grounds to fire him. Or they could just let the LSU salary more than mitigate any buyout.
IIRC, Croom stayed with Green Bay until their season was over, before coming on FT to coach us.
So, it really is about the money, unlike what Kiffin said. Not that I ever thought otherwise.
What secret agreement? If a "secret agreement" were in place and he was actively recruiting for LSU. OM would have fired him as soon as they found out. Don't believe everything you read.
Totally different situations. We didn’t view the Green Bay Packers as our competition. And sadly (but true), Urban Meyer’s Florida Gators didn’t view Mississippi State as their competition. Dan Mullen posed no risk to raiding Gator coaches and players.
This is playing out better than I ever imagined....
That's fine if Kiffin wants to stay. To me its clear he does not.
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You're still doing this?
But because it's ole miss, I'm lovin' it.
All he has to do is make the LSU contract effective at a later date, say the date after the CFP final is played.
There’s probably non-compete restrictions in his current contract that prohibit him from entering into an employment contract with a different school regardless of effective date.
Maybe. But not if Ole Miss wrote up a sane head coaching contract. Any competent contract would not allow you to sign a contract with another school, now or in the future, and not be in breach of your current contract. I seriously doubt they aren’t covered in that scenario.
Its not any different in the sense that they can try to sway existing players and recruits over to the new school if they stick around for the postseason.
There is no concern beyond that, and that concern is there regardless of whether Kiffin coaches in the CFP or not.
It’s pretty simple to me. Kiffin remains to coach at OM through the CFP, he will be spending part of his time preparing them for the CFP games and part of his time preparing for his new assignment, which includes recruiting and staff building at LSU. He doesn’t? Well, then he’s spending 100% of his time recruiting and staff building at LSU. He’s a bigger threat to OM’s existing roster / staff (and a bigger benefit to LSU) if he doesn’t coach in the CFP. He’s a bigger distraction if he’s not in the building than if he is.
You would think adults could come to their senses on this one, and get over their hurt feelings. LSU stands the most to gain from him leaving immediately. They are still in a good spot even if he doesn’t, because they get all sorts of free press with their new guy on TV in the CFP. Ole Miss stands the most to lose for doing really anything to upset the apple cart and make this worse than it already is. They’re on the verge of flushing a historic season down the drain before they can even cash anything in on it. Forcing Kiffin to leave before the CFP is an explicit admission that they don’t think the team is good enough to make noise in the playoff, so they should just rip the band-aid off and move on.
It’s all quite entertaining, though.
Wasn't there some talk a couple of years ago about non-compete clauses being banned? I'm too lazy to look it up but I remember the FTC cracking down on non-competes.
I agree.
OM got played on this one— I think their only real hand left is to let him coach and hope you get the natty this year. NIL is a year by year thing anyway.
They took a gamble on him and it has mostly paid off— but this is a risk when you hire someone lacking character.
My company still requires them. I guess we could be doing so illegally, but I doubt it.
I was partially correct.
Current Status of Non-Compete Clauses (as of late 2025)
- FTC’s Attempted Ban (2024):
- The FTC issued a rule in April 2024 banning non-competes nationwide, claiming it would boost wages, innovation, and business formation.
- A federal court in Texas blocked the rule in August 2024, ruling the FTC exceeded its authority.
- The FTC appealed but later abandoned the case in September 2025, effectively ending the nationwide ban effort.
Non competes are still a thing. They just don't really have any teeth legally anymore.