Dan Orlovsky, Rex Ryan defend Lane Kiffin decision, blast college football schedule

The departure of Lane Kiffin from Ole Miss to rival LSU has become the talk of the sports world. That included on Get Up on Monday morning. There, analyst Dan Orlovsky would defend Kiffin and firmly put the blame on the sport’s calendar instead.

“What is Lane Kiffin supposed to do?” Dan Orlovsky asked. “Unequivocally, everyone would sit here and tell you a top-five job in college football — LSU. Unquestionably, the chance to go and win a national championship, and not a ton of schools can say that. So, he’s left with the decision because of the way the calendar is set up, and Josh [Pate] pointed it out a few minutes ago. He’s left with the decision of, I’ve just to this team to the brink of the Playoff and a potential national championship, and seeing that through, or turning down what maybe is the next step. What maybe is a dream job. What maybe is, in his words, he said, the next challenge?”

By now, the Lane Kiffin saga is well told. Multiple SEC jobs had interest in him, and for multiple weeks, there was an increasing interest. Then, Ole Miss demanded his answer over the weekend. That turned out to be that he was leaving, but wanted to stay for the College Football Playoff. That didn’t work for Ole Miss, and he seemingly tried to use his leverage to poach staffers on the way out.

The calendar, of course, meant that Kiffin had to leave for LSU now and not later. National Signing Day is around the corner, and the Transfer Portal opens in January, while the CFP will still be underway. That’s a new change this season from December to try and alleviate the struggles with the calendar. That calendar, Orlovsky believes, is the issue and not Kiffin’s decision to leave.

“So, Lane Kiffin’s the bad guy here? Because these idiots who set this college football calendar this way? That’s not Lane Kiffin’s fault. If we remove all the emotion, what is he supposed to do? Truly, not take the next step because poor calendar management and setting of dates? That’s not fair to Lane Kiffin. That’s not fair to the kids. I feel awful for the kids at Ole Miss, but this is the leadership at the NCAA once again, once again having awful leadership when it comes to that stuff.”

Dan Orlovsky wasn’t alone on the Get Up set. Former NFL head coach Rex Ryan agreed. He took aim specifically at the portal, arguing that movement is to be expected in the modern era.

“Big picture take is I don’t blame Lane Kiffin for going after it. I mean, look at the landscape of college football, which I think is absolutely abysmal. Not just the calendar, but the fact you let kids bail all the time. Free agents. You know what? I’m gonna make more money if I go to this place or whatever? What is the difference? To people that are killing Lane Kiffin, he’s the one that built that program. He’s the one. His leadership. His talent as a football coach and the guys he hired all that time of stuff,” Ryan said.

“So, look, does he look like a monster? It’s easy for all of us to say, ‘Oh hell no. He should’ve stayed.’ All that kind of stuff. That’s not the real world, because everybody that’s saying it would have chased that job at LSU and the way more money and everything else that that job brings. So, to me, no. He is not the monster in this case.”

Regardless, Ole Miss is now dealing with a head coaching change as it enters the College Football Playoff. How that changes things for the team remains to be seen.