Lane Kiffin is not the head coach at Ole Miss anymore, but he can still make money if the Rebels go on a run in the College Football Playoff.
As part of Kiffin’s seven-year, $91-million deal with LSU, the school agreed to pay Kiffin what he “would have been entitled to receive” in postseason bonuses if he had stayed at Ole Miss during the playoff, according to a copy of his term sheet obtained Monday by The Advocate.
Even though he will not be with the team, Kiffin would receive up to $1 million if Ole Miss wins the national title. He would make $150,000 if the Rebels play in the first round as expected, $250,000 if they reach the quarterfinals, $500,000 if they go to the semifinals, $750,000 if they play in the national championship game or $1 million if they win it all.
After accepting the LSU job, Kiffin said in a statement Sunday he wanted to coach Ole Miss through the CFP, a sticking point in the timing of his announcement. Kiffin said Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter “denied” his request, and he claimed players asked Carter “to allow me to keep coaching them so they could better maintain their high level of performance.”
Currently ranked No. 7 with an 11-1 record, Ole Miss will likely make the CFP for the first time and could host a first-round game. Kiffin said last week it was “very important” to him to finish the season with the team, but Ole Miss did not want him to stay if he intended to leave for an SEC rival. Their disagreement came to a head over the weekend, and Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding was promoted to head coach after Kiffin’s departure.
“After a lot of prayer and time spent with family, I made the difficult decision to accept the head coaching position at LSU,” Kiffin said in a statement posted Sunday to social media. “I was hoping to complete a historic six season run with this year’s team by leading Ole Miss through the playoffs, capitalizing on the team’s incredible success and their commitment to finish strong, and investing everything in a playoff run with guardrails in place to protect the program in any areas of concern.”
It’s unclear what Ole Miss’ staff will look like in the College Football Playoff. Kiffin brought nine Ole Miss coaches and staff members with him to Baton Rouge on Sunday, including offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr.
Among the group, Kiffin also brought co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Joe Cox, wide receivers coach George McDonald, head strength and conditioning coach Nick Savage and offensive graduate assistant Sawyer Jordan. Their names have already been removed from Ole Miss’ online staff directory.
