After leaving Ole Miss for LSU, Lane Kiffin maintained a friendly public demeanor toward his former team during Ole Miss’s College Football Playoff semifinal run, but one writer claims his private reaction was different.
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Kiffin, fully entrenched in Baton Rouge, continues to build the Tigers’ roster to his liking. With the transfer portal door closing next week, he is trying to stack his roster. According to CBS Sports host Sudu Upadhyay, Kiffin continues to reach out to members of the Ole Miss roster.
As one source put it to me earlier tonight: “he’s speed dialing the whole roster.” https://t.co/ueK4ok9vEr
— Sudu (@sudu_tv) January 16, 2026
“As one source put it to me earlier tonight: he’s speed dialing the whole roster.” First, Upadhyay is connected to the scene in Oxford. As a graduate of the University of Mississippi, he’s probably maintained the contacts in and around the program. Plus, Kiffin’s interest in those players makes sense. Kiffin recruited many of the players who still populate much of the Ole Miss depth chart.
As a result, he wants to recreate that success in Baton Rouge. The coach is to replicate an offense that ranked No.12 in PFSN’s CFB Offense Impact Rankings.
The LSU head coach’s eagerness adds another layer to the burgeoning rivalry between the two schools. Pete Golding, Kiffin’s defensive coordinator at Ole Miss, when asked during a CFP media conference about the players’ mindset, offered this comment.
“To be honest with you, I don’t think the players give a damn about who runs them out of the tunnel. They care about the plan. They care about getting held accountable and how they’re going to prepare. They care about people that care about them. I think that’s been the message our players have created, but I don’t have s— to say to anybody else.”
Additionally, Kiffin and Ole Miss will be intertwined on and off the field for the foreseeable future. The two teams compete in the annual Magnolia Bowl. The two schools, separated by 320 miles, first met in 1894 and have played every year since 1945.
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So far, only one Ole Miss player, wide receiver Winston Watkins, has moved from the Rebels to the Tigers. The transfer portal has now closed, and committed players joined their new teams today. Kiffin’s last chance to adjust his roster was today. However, linebacker TJ Dottery and edges Da’Shawn Womack and Princewill Umanmielen entered the portal just before it closed.
September 19 will be the flashpoint, a reinvigoration of the rivalry. Kiffin and his team travel to Mississippi. The week leading up to the game should teem with quotes, comments, and traded barbs. However, the game takes on a special significance for the fanbases.
