$91 million head coach believed to be 'relieved' over College Football Playoff results

A coach at a major college football program is rumored to be relieved by what occurred in the College Football Playoffs.

LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin looks on prior to the game against the Houston Cougars at NRG Stadium. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

The 2025 college football season is rapidly approaching its conclusion. The College Football Playoff national championship game between No. 1 Indiana (15-0, 9-0) and No. 10 Miami (13-2, 6-2) is the last football game before the sport enters its seven-month offseason.

One important event at the end of every college football season is a head coaching change. Struggling programs wasted no time in deciding to move on from their 2025 head coaches, some of whom made their moves in September. Nearly 20 different Power Four programs will have a new head coach in 2026.

No head-coaching change received more publicity than LSU's in 2025. The Tigers made their decision to fire head coach Brian Kelly following a home blowout loss to Texas A&M on Oct. 25. In a coaching search that featured the firing of an athletics director and the involvement of a state governor, LSU ultimately walked away with former Ole Miss head coach as its next head coach.

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin | Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Tigers' hiring of Kiffin sparked more vitriol in what is already a rivalry full of hatred in the Magnolia Bowl. LSU and Ole Miss have met 111 times on the gridiron, with the first meeting all the way back in 1894.

Up until Kiffin's arrival at Ole Miss, the Rebels had never won more than 10 games in a single season. Kiffin not only shattered the ceiling with an 11-2 record to finish 2023, but he also won 11 games in the 2025 regular season. He and John Vaught are the only coaches to reach double-digit wins in four different seasons of their Ole Miss tenures.

Kiffin may have coached the Rebels to a 2025 College Football Playoff berth, but he was not allowed to stay and finish the job after he accepted the LSU position. The Rebels won their first two College Football Playoff games against No. 11 Tulane (41-10) and No. 3 Georgia (39-34) before being eliminated by No. 10 Miami (31-27) in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.

College football media personality Paul Finebaum said Kiffin is likely relieved that the Rebels' College Football Playoff run has come to an end. He made the claim about Kiffin on the Matt Barrie Show.

ESPN announcer Paul Finebaum before the 2024 SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

"I think deep down, he had to be very relieved. I'm not going to be so cynical to think that he would root against Ole Miss," Finebaum said. "I don't think he would. I think that's a part of who he is. But the idea that Ole Miss is playing for a national championship, I think from a Lane Kiffin standpoint, probably made his next week and a half a lot easier, because that story just died."

Kiffin has signed 38 players from the 2026 transfer portal. Of those acquisitions, linebackers TJ Dottery and Devin Harper, and wide receiver Winston Watkins all followed Kiffin from Ole Miss to LSU after the College Football Playoff loss.

Significant members of the Rebels' 2025 offensive staff, most notably offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., are also headed for Baton Rouge.