Adam Schefter rips Ole Miss, sides with Lane Kiffin: ‘Nobody turns down a $5M raise’

Lane Kiffin’s jump to LSU has sent shockwaves through the SEC. However, ESPN insider Adam Schefter turned the spotlight back toward Oxford on Monday’s Get Up. 

Schefter questioned whether Ole Miss actually did enough to keep one of their more successful coaches in modern program history: “He was making $7M a year at Ole Miss,” Schefter said. “What I don’t understand from the outside is, why didn’t Ole Miss step up and pay him

“College football has become one big money-grab. Would anybody in any line of work pass up a $5M a year raise to go somewhere else? No.”

On Sunday, Kiffin officially accepted the LSU job following weeks of speculation that tied him not only to Baton Rouge, but also to Florida. The decision ends his six-year run at Ole Miss, where he elevated the Rebels to a likely College Football Playoff berth for the first time in school history. 

He won’t be on the sideline to coach them through the bracket, but his impact, as well as his departure, looms large. Still, Kiffin acknowledged just how difficult the move was during an emotional interview with ESPN’s Marty Smith.

“It just was really difficult,” Kiffin said. “This has been a really special place. Six years here. I hope that when [the emotions] settle down, there’s an appreciation about what we were able to do here having the best run that’s ever been done in the history of this school.”

His time in Oxford marked a reinvention after a turbulent early career. Kiffin’s one-year stint at Tennessee led to a high-profile run at USC that ended midseason in 2013. His subsequent years at Alabama under Nick Saban and then at Florida Atlantic rebuilt his coaching stock, ultimately giving him a fresh platform at Ole Miss.

There, he delivered, finishing with a 55–19 record, reshaping the program and proving he could build a contender in the sport’s toughest conference. Reflecting on his journey and the legacy he hopes to leave behind, Kiffin shared a personal story about his late father as well in longtime coaching veteran Monte Kiffin.

“When I spoke at my dad’s funeral, all the people showed up from all the different spots he coached, and they said he was able to impact them,” he elaborated. “So I’ve really strived since that day to really try to impact people. I just prayed a lot and made a family decision. Hopefully [I’ll] get a chance to go impact a whole new set of people.”

As Kiffin begins his chapter at LSU, with a massive raise and championship expectations, Schefter’s question now hangs over Oxford. Could Ole Miss have done more to keep him? Perhaps. Still, there could’ve been nothing that might’ve changed his mind in the end.

— On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this article.