Turns out Lane Kiffin will be at the SEC championship game after all.
No, the former Mississippi and current LSU football coach will not be there to coach a college football game, but rather he will join the ESPN ‘College GameDay’ crew as a guest. Kiffin left Ole Miss for the Tigers’ job on Nov. 20, two days after the Rebels’ win over in-state rival Mississippi State.
LSU announced Kiffin would be in Atlanta to make an appearance on the three-hour pregame show ahead of the SEC championship game.
Due to Alabama’s win over in-state rival Auburn, Ole Miss did not qualify for the SEC championship game, which will feature No. 3 Georgia (No. 3 in College Football Playoff) and No. 10 Alabama (No. 10 in CFP). The Iron Bowl essentially marked the end of Kiffin’s tenure with the Rebels.
Last week on ‘GameDay,’ analysts Nick Saban and Kirk Herbstreit each opined that Ole Miss should allow Kiffin to coach the Rebels in the CFP. However, Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter and the program decided that was not the best option.
Kiffin was an assistant for Saban at Alabama from 2014 to 2016 before leaving before the 2017 CFP national championship game to become the head coach at Florida Atlantic.
On Sunday, Kiffin announced he was leaving Oxford, Mississippi, for Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was introduced as the LSU football coach on Monday, Dec. 1, just three days after the Rebels’ regular season ended with a 38-19 victory over Mississippi State.
The ‘GameDay’ appearance will be Kiffin’s first major appearance on ESPN since his decision to leave Ole Miss for a job with rival LSU.