Kirk Herbstreit celebrates Charlie Weis Jr. returning to coach Ole Miss in College Football Playoff

Lane Kiffin might not get to stay in Oxford for the College Football Playoff but Charlie Weis Jr. will. The Ole Miss offensive coordinator is making his way back to the program after initially following Kiffin to LSU. The announcement came on Tuesday afternoon, just hours before the latest College Football Playoff rankings.

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit took to social media to celebrate the move from Weis. Herbstreit even called for the CFP committee to take Weis’ return into consideration when discussing Ole Miss.

“This is GREAT news!” Herbstreit said via X. “Glad this worked out and hope the committee takes this into consideration with Ole Miss. Weis Jr has been a critical component for the game prep and play calling on Saturdays! Great news!”

A colleague of Herbstreit, ESPN’s Heather Dinich, also spoke on the matter. She shut down the idea of this specific news playing a role in the committee’s thoughts on Ole Miss. Mainly because the rankings set to be released were already finalized.

However, Dinich added she would be “surprised” if Ole Miss gets dinged at whole for Kiffin leaving the program. A positive sign for new head coach Pete Golding.

“At this point on a Tuesday, the ranking is set,” Dinich said via X. “They usually meet all day Monday and until around noon on Tuesday. What’s done is done. I will be surprised if Ole Miss took a big hit for all this.”

As Herbstreit mentioned, Weis has been a key figure this season for the Rebels. Ole Miss is home to one of the best offenses in college football. Yes, Kiffin deserves and receives a ton of credit for the whole operation. But Weis is right there with him.

Weis has a long history with Kiffin, dating back to when the two were at Alabama together during the 2015 and 2016 seasons. After one year apart, the two reconnected in Boca Raton at FAU. However, Weis was on the move once again in 2020 to become USF‘s offensive coordinator.

The decision to link back up at Ole Miss came in 2022 when Weis assumed the role of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He has worked with Kiffin ever since then and initially planned to continue to at LSU.

Now, we will have to wait and see what the future holds. In the coming days, weeks, and potentially month, Weis continues to wear Ole Miss colors.