Ole Miss Football Hires LSU Tigers Staffer With Rebels Poaching Lane Kiffin's Program

Pete Golding and the Ole Miss Rebels are set to hire LSU Associate Director of Player Personnel Jai Choudhary to rejoin the program, according to multiple reports.

Choudhary departed the Ole Miss program last year to join LSU, but with new General Manager Austin Thomas back in Oxford, he's made sure to bring in his right hand man to assist him once again.

According to CBS Sports, Choudhary returns to the Magnolia State to serve as the program's Director of Player Personnel.

It's another key move for the Ole Miss Rebels with the program stacking front office officials to elevate the future where it started with the return of Thomas.

Thomas joined the LSU staff in Baton Rouge as the program's general manager and senior associate athletics director in 2024, but following the hiring of Lane Kiffin, was not retained.

LSU associate director of player personnel Jai Choudhary is set to join the Ole Miss front office as Director of Player Personnel, sources tell @On3sports. https://t.co/MFzBeswAjW pic.twitter.com/ADdI9fvJ8h
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos) December 26, 2025

He returned to LSU in January of 2024 to serve as a senior associate athletic director for football administration in what became his third stint with the program.

Thomas was elevated to general manager at LSU for the first time in 2016, becoming the first person in college football to hold that title.

The savvy football mind returned to Baton Rouge after two years at Ole Miss, where he served as football chief of staff and sport administrator for the Rebel football program in 2022 and 2023.

Ole Miss had perhaps the best season in school history in 2023, winning a program record 11 games, beating Penn State in the Peach Bowl and finishing the year ranked No. 9 in the nation.

Now, Thomas makes his return to Oxford as the general manager and president of football operations, according to On3 Sports, in a meteoric hire for the Ole Miss program.

"Considered one of the top off the field professionals in all of college football, Thomas spent multiple seasons on Lane Kiffin’s staff in off-the-field roles at both USC and Tennessee," according to his LSU bio.

"Thomas served as a defensive quality control coach for Kiffin in Knoxville in 2009, followed by a two year stay at USC as the Trojans’ assistant director of player personnel from 2011-2013."

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