Lane Kiffin may no longer be the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels, but he’s still closely following the coaches and players he worked with during the regular season.
On Saturday, the Rebels opened the first round of the College Football Playoff with a first-round matchup against the Tulane Green Wave. With Kiffin now coaching LSU, his former defensive coordinator, Pete Golding, stepped in as head coach and guided the team to a dominant 41-10 victory.
That moved Ole Miss into a second-round matchup against a familiar SEC foe, the No. 3-seeded Georgia Bulldogs.
Meanwhile, Kiffin, who remains active on social media, couldn’t help but send a message to his former team and the new head coach, Golding.
Read more: Lane Kiffin Calls Out LSU-Ole Miss Drama Before CFP Game
Lane Kiffin publicly showed his support following the win, taking to X to congratulate his former program and staff.
“Congrats to all the coaches and players @OleMissFB and especially @CoachGolding and seeing his 2 boys on the sidelines Great win today. #1-0. #BeatGeorgiaInTheBoot,” he wrote in his supportive message.
Kiffin likely enjoyed seeing his former team put up 41 on the opponents, as his offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis Jr., is helping coach Ole Miss as the OC until their CFP run ends. He’ll then rejoin Kiffin as part of his LSU coaching staff.
Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss had a superb outing, throwing for 282 yards and a touchdown. In addition, he ran the ball six times for 36 yards and two touchdowns. Ole Miss led 14-0 after the first quarter and 17-3 at halftime, never looking back.
Kiffin’s message to the Rebels and Golding on Saturday evening also came after his former team helped him earn an extra $250,000 by winning a CFP game he didn’t even coach. So it’s clear he enjoyed every bit of that win’s significance.
The former Ole Miss coach shook things up weeks ago when it was announced he would become the new coach of the LSU Tigers amid his team’s CFP run. Rumors swirled about it for weeks, and on Nov. 30, he was officially revealed as the new coach and also signed a lucrative seven-year contract.
He was then prohibited from coaching his former team in the CFP to prevent him from luring players over to his new team.
Kiffin’s supportive Ole Miss tweet is one of several he fired off on Saturday. Earlier in the day, he called out potential drama involving the governors of Louisiana and Mississippi ahead of the CFP game, suggesting everyone should get along until they meet on the field.
Despite their huge first-round CFP win, Ole Miss still ranks at the bottom of the remaining CFP teams. As of this report, FanDuel Sportsbook lists them with +2500 odds, which is tied with the Miami Hurricanes.
The Rebels are also 6.5-point underdogs in their game against the Georgia Bulldogs on New Year’s Day.
Read more: Mario Cristobal Calls Out Notre Dame CFP Debate After Miami Win
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