Lane Kiffin isn’t likely to get a warm reception anytime soon in Oxford, Mississippi.
Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter joined several players in the program who have called into question Kiffin’s comments and timeline after the coach ditched Ole Miss for LSU over the weekend.
Speaking on “SuperTalk Mississippi” on Wednesday, Carter called out Kiffin’s version of events.
“There’s been a lot of things that he’s said publicly that I’m not sure are totally accurate,” Carter said.
Carter specifically mentioned the claims by Kiffin that he wasn’t told until Sunday morning that he would not be able to coach Ole Miss through the College Football Playoff.
“I think both coach and his representation knew several weeks ago that coaching in the playoffs was not going to be an option, if he was not the Ole Miss head coach,” Carter said.
When Carter was asked directly about Kiffin’s alleged timeline that the ex-Rebels coach mentioned during his introductory press conference on Monday in Baton Rouge, he refuted it outright.
“No, that is not accurate,” he said. “That’s not accurate. The only thing that was a little bit of a wrinkle in it was the fact that if Auburn had beaten Alabama, we were going to play in the SEC Championship. That threw a little wrinkle in it, not to say he would have coached in that game, but in the shorter time period, that was maybe the only little nuance to it.
“But absolutely, it was very clear that coaching in the postseason was not going to be an option for coach Kiffin a few weeks ago.”
Kiffin’s departure from Ole Miss has been incredibly messy and dragged on for most of the weekend until he officially announced the decision on Sunday.
Carter’s comments are the latest after several Ole Miss players called out Kiffin on social media, refuting his claims that the they asked the administration to allow Kiffin to coach the Rebels through the CFP.
Sophomore offensive lineman Brycen Sanders took to social media Tuesday night to call out Kiffin, sharing the coach’s original announcement post from Sunday while writing above it, “‘Despite the team asking me to keep coaching’. I think everyone that was in that room would disagree.”
Players Paris Wilkins, Jayden Williams and Suntarine Perkins all posted comments either backing up or adding to Sanders’ jab at Kiffin.
Kiffin has not publicly addressed the pushback he’s gotten from the Ole Miss AD and his former players.
