It appears Lane Kiffin isn’t done tormenting his former team, the Ole Miss Rebels.
Weeks after leaving Oxford to take the head-coaching job with SEC rival LSU, Kiffin gave Ole Miss and its fans another reason to resent him.
When Kiffin initially jumped ship, he brought a whole host of offensive assistants from Ole Miss with him to LSU, including offensive coordinator Charlie Weiss Jr. Then, Kiffin poached a key recruiting staffer from his old school in senior executive director of recruiting Dwike Wilson.
And now, Kiffin is striking again.
According to a report from Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, Ole Miss running backs coach Kevin Smith is leaving to join Kiffin in Baton Rouge. He’ll be among the highest-paid RBs coaches in the country.
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“LSU has finalized to deal to hire Ole Miss’ Kevin Smith as running backs coach that’s expected to pay him close to $1 million per year and will make him one of the nation’s highest-paid RB coaches, per sources,” Zenitz wrote on X.
Smith is one of the more highly regarded RBs coaches in the country, given his recent track record.
Under his tutelage, sophomore tailback Kewan Lacy rushed for 1,366 yards—second-most in the SEC and sixth-most in the country—and a conference-high 21 touchdowns this season.
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Smith also helped develop Cleveland Browns rookie Quinshon Judkins, who rushed for 1,567 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2023 and 1,158 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2023 before transferring to Ohio State.
Adding a coach of Smith’s caliber is a big win for LSU, which struggled to run the ball this season.
The team combined for just 1,275 yards on the ground and nine scores. Running backs Caden Durham (505 yards on 106 carries, three touchdowns) and Harlem Berry (446 yards on 101 carries, two touchdowns) split the carries, but the team didn’t have a true bell-cow back.
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