Mississippi athletic director Keith Carter, members of the football team and even the state's top public safety officer are challenging the veracity of Lane Kiffin's portrayal of the events surrounding his departure for LSU.
“There's been a lot of things he said publicly that I’m not sure are totally accurate,” Carter said Wednesday during an appearance on a Mississippi talk show.
LSU announced the hiring of Kiffin on Sunday, two days after Mississippi defeated Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl to finish the regular season 11-1. Rebels defensive coordinator Pete Golding was named head coach shortly after Kiffin's hiring at LSU became official.
Kiffin posted a farewell message on X saying he had hoped to coach the Rebels through the College Football Playoff and that the players wanted him to stay through the postseason. The team is No. 6 in this week's CFP rankings, making it a near lock to receive an at-large bid.
“My request to do so was denied by Keith Carter despite the team also asking him to allow me to keep coaching them so they could better maintain their high level of performance,” Kiffin wrote.
Kiffin had said he was under the impression he would be able to coach the Rebels in the CFP until he was told otherwise in a meeting early Sunday, according to Yahoo Sports.
Speaking on "Mornings With Richard Cross" on SuperTalk Mississippi, Carter said Kiffin and his representatives had been told several weeks ago that he would not coach in the playoff if he was not staying at Mississippi.
“I see him finding out at 8:30 on Sunday morning for the very first time that he would not be coaching the playoff is not accurate,” Carter said.
As for the players asking him to stay through the playoff, offensive lineman Brycen Sanders wrote on X: "I think everyone that was in that room would disagree.”
Carter said “there was a lot of pushback to him leaving” because the players were concerned about who would coach them.
“And it was sounding like he was going to take all the offensive staff with him,” Carter said. “So there was a lot of discussion around that. But I think begging for him to stay is certainly an overstatement.”
Linebacker Suntarine Perkins wrote on X that Kiffin's social media post on Sunday did not match what he said in the meeting with players. “Everybody that was in there can vouch on this,” Perkins said.
Kiffin also said a Mississippi fan tried to run him off the road as he was driving to the airport for his flight to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Sunday. The Mississippi Highway Patrol escorted Kiffin to the airport and reported no incidents.
In a satirical video posted on Mississippi DPS social platforms, commissioner Sean Tindell, walking a dog and wearing a visor in a nod to Kiffin, said, “Contrary to any rumor or any other allegations, there's been no incidents where our highway patrol state troopers were involved in any sort of accident trying to run coach Kiffin off the road when he was leaving Oxford last weekend. He had a safe trip and he's on his way.”
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