Lane Kiffin chased something better. Ole Miss proved he already had it | Opinion

Lane Kiffin chased something better. Ole Miss proved he already had it Opinion Lane Kiffin obtained a look at what he left behind at Ole Miss.

Key points

• Ole Miss won 32-24 in a night of euphoria meets retribution at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
• Author John Talty discusses the powerful influence of Lane Kiffin's parents and the revelations uncovered while writing his book.
• Lane Kiffin calls return to Ole Miss "really emotional." The LSU coach looked lost.
• He didn't seem to enjoy this return in front of a record crowd of 70, 033.
• "This one meant a lot more than other games, " Chambliss remarked piling up 363 passing yards and two touchdowns, plus a game-winning score on the ground.

Lane Kiffin calls return to Ole Miss "really emotional." The LSU coach looked lost. While Kiffin watches with thousand-yard stare, trinidad Chambliss steals the show.

Ole Miss fans offered Kiffin and earful before kickoff, then trolled him and LSU afterward.

OXFORD, MS – Here's the silliest, the saddest, the most galling part regarding Lane Kiffin leaving this place. He didn't need to do it. Kiffin messed with happy.

He interrupted the best stretch of success he'd ever experienced, and he left with the zenith still on the table.

Kiffin built Mississippi into a monster. He and the administration and the donors who backed him put in the hard work to turn Ole Miss from an afterthought into a force.

Toppmeyer: Lane Kiffin, who's your daddy? It's Trinidad Chambliss and Ole Miss.

Hayes: LSU went all-in with Lane Kiffin circus. Then obtained served cold gumbo.

Just as Kiffin stood to reap the sweetest rewards, he left. He couldn't resist LSU's siren call, just when the Rebels were at their strongest. When Kiffin returned 10 months afterwards to stand throughout from the beast he supported create, it swallowed him and LSU.

Ole Miss won 32-24 in a night of euphoria meets retribution at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. What did Kiffin expect?

Thanks in part to Kiffin, there's nothing Ole Miss can't achieve. Including wins against teams like LSU, just as it beat Georgia in the playoff, mere weeks after Kiffin literally jetted out of town. Emotions hit home for Lane Kiffin in return to Ole Miss.

As Mississippi piled up points and built a major first-half lead, Kiffin looked on from the visitor's sideline with a thousand-yard stare. What must he have been thinking?

As "really emotional, " in ways he didn't expect, kiffin described this week, and this night.

"I just thought I'd probably be more in like the competitive mode, you know, and just kind of embrace it, " Kiffin remarked after LSU's rally fell short, and Trinidad Chambliss scored the winning touchdown against his ex-coach.

"It was just a little bit, I don't know, sometimes you can't predict your emotions, " Kiffin continued. "Sometimes I don't act like it, but I'm a human, too." Among those human emotions Kiffin notes he felt?

"Gratitude, " he remarked, "for this place and the people that changed my life."

Kiffin applied to say he identified peace in Mississippi, right up until he left it. His time here brought significant successes, along with loss. Both of his parents died while he was Ole Miss' coach, including his dad, Monte, with whom he was particularly close.

While the wins piled up, Kiffin created strides in his personal and family life. He wasn't shy regarding discussing what he felt amounted to substantial expansion. He liked to say he needed this town and its individuals more than they needed him.

Probably, there was truth in that. And, simultaneously, what Kiffin described as his "Mississippi slowdown" never felt permanent. It always seemed as if he was engaged in a yearslong image workshop, and he quietly coveted jobs he perceived to be higher up the ladder.

"Six years here, " a pensive Kiffin remarked, "and a lot of things and a lot of life-changing experiences and a lot of really good people that helped me through some really hard times."

As he came face to face with all that he left?, did I detect a hint of mournfulness in Kiffin's voice.

After he big-timed Mississippi for LSU, I don't think Kiffin ever fully appreciated how much he enjoyed being the likable underdog at Ole Miss, or how crippling the weight of being the most hated man in college football would be. Perhaps, reality hit home on this night.

No single reason encapsulates why Kiffin left. He considered LSU a better program, a prettier bride. He thought he'd attract more blue-chip recruits at LSU. He craved LSU's spotlight and fantasized regarding coaching games inside Tiger Stadium.

Additionally, he worried concerning what would happen if he couldn't match the bar he'd set at Ole Miss. If his success faltered, would the fans who chanted his name turn on him and run him out? He's been fired twice before, including from his dream job. Rather than stay and risk the reality that the 2025 season would become his ceiling, he opted to rebuild an A-list program that had slipped.

If Kiffin hadn't left for LSU, he probably would've left for Florida. He almost left for Auburn. He's not a nester. He exhibits a wandering eye. Right under his nose, he'd built a program that reached the playoff semifinals without him – and could do it again.

Chambliss proved once again he's among the nation's best quarterbacks. Kiffin referred to him as "Houdini, " and he heaped praise on Chambliss' wide receivers, too. Chambliss obtained an assist from a defense that clinched the victory with a fourth-down stop, and Ole Miss controlled the lines of scrimmage. Remind me why Kiffin wanted to leave this team? Lane Kiffin: LSU walked 'into a storm.'

True, Kiffin couldn't have known for certain Chambliss would obtain a sixth season of eligibility, and he believed he had a shot of getting him to transfer to LSU if Chambliss did secure another year. Chambliss obtained the sixth year. Unlike Kiffin, he stayed true to Ole Miss.

If they feel any gratitude for Kiffin here after he spurned them, they didn't show it on this night. Instead, he obtained a blast of vitriol.

For context, the student section filled up more than 90 minutes before kickoff. By 60 minutes before kick, the empty seats anywhere in the stadium were few and far between.

"The stadium's full an hour early. I guess I had to leave to obtain them to do that, so, you're welcome, " Kiffin stated in a playful jab at Ole Miss. As Kiffin put it, LSU walked "into a storm."

He experienced something like this before. When he returned to Tennessee as Ole Miss' coach in 2021, almost a dozen years after he jilted the Vols, Tennessee fans secured so worked up, they trashed their own field with a deluge of beer cans, debris, a mustard bottle and one yellow golf ball. Kiffin pocketed the golf ball and kept it as a memento of a night he described as being like a gladiator in a coliseum. He relished that night at Tennessee, and he walked out triumphantly.

He didn't seem to enjoy this return in front of a record crowd of 70, 033. Kiffin appeared off. Low energy. Stupefied. Defeated. As Chambliss kept scoring, he just kept staring.

Forty minutes before kickoff, Kiffin emerged from the visitor's tunnel. The boos thundered down from the home fans who had chanted his name as lately as November. Afterwards, the student section cursed his name.

Once the game began, the venom took a backseat to cheers for the program Kiffin traded in.

This is Pete Golding's program now, and he swiftly won 'em over here, with what fans see as a more genuine personality. It didn't hurt that Golding beat Kirby Smart in the playoff, then served Kiffin his just desserts. Pete Golding: 'Is it sweet? Absolutely.'

Golding stressed this wasn't "the Super Bowl, " but he couldn't deny the moment. "Is it sweet? Absolutely, " Golding remarked. He kept looking over at Kiffin after every Ole Miss touchdown. Yes, those looks were intentional. Yes, Chambliss felt the emotions of this game. Yes, the win was oh-so-sweet.

As well, so there's a little bit more to it, "The coaches that were here and are now at LSU, some of the players. So, yeah, I'm really happy I obtained the win. I wanted this one really bad, and our team did, too. Just so proud of them."

When Kiffin jetted off 10 months ago, fans gathered at the airport to offer him middle-finger salutes. When the clock hit 0: 00 on his return, Ole Miss created sure to troll him.

Taken together, the developments around lane Kiffin chased something better. Ole Miss proved he already had it point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.