On Thursday night, Ole Miss will play Miami for a spot in the CFP championship. Only two LSU coaches will remain on loan for the game — offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. and running backs coach Kevin Smith.
Appearing on ACC Network, former Florida State and Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher unloaded on LSU coach Lane Kiffin for not letting more of the former Ole Miss assistants help the Rebels finish the job.
“It’s selfish,” Fisher said. “That’s what it is. It’s stupid. And because here’s why I say that. He wanted to coach [Ole Miss] and thought he didn’t get his way. ‘Everybody get on the plane with me, or you don’t have a job.’ All right? And he makes them all go. Then he gets down there and takes a P.R. hit, because it looks bad that you really don’t care about the kids. Then he says, ‘Okay, you can go back.’
“But here’s where he screwed up. He thought they were gonna lose to Georgia. The portal thing was all over with, and it was going to be all over with. He said, ‘I’ll look like a hero.’ Now, he’s got egg on his face because the real Lane came back out. You know what I’m saying? And if those guys were allowed to coach a first game, they should be allowed to coach — because those kids are doing something that you get one time in your life to do. That team. And those guys. One time. And as a coach? Listen, I know, I’ve left a job, I get that. But if you took them on and said they’re never coming back, that’s fine. You set the rules of the game. You don’t change the rules in the middle of the game. And as a coach, it’s hurting the kids and it pisses me off.”
Fisher’s right. If the former Ole Miss assistants were going to be available for any playoff games, they should have been available for all of them.
The entire situation is just another example of the chaos that the custodians of college football have created. It’s on them. And, no matter how hard they try to get someone else to clean up their mess, it’s on them to get the mop and bucket.
Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate is declaring for the 2026 NFL draft, Pete Thamel of ESPN reports.
Tate is projected as a top-10 pick after 1,872 yards and 14 touchdowns in three seasons with the Buckeyes.
He played only 11 games in 2025, missing three games with an injury, and still caught 51 passes for 875 yards and nine touchdowns.
In four consecutive NFL drafts, the Buckeyes have had at least one first-round wide receiver. Tate is expected to make it five consecutive years, following Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave (2022), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (2023), Marvin Harrison Jr. (2024) and Emeka Egbuka.
In two days, Ole Miss will face Miami in the CFP semifinal. And Ole Miss will have two LSU coaches to help the Rebels offense.
Via ESPN.com, offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. and running backs coach Kevin Smith will remain on loan for the next round of the playoffs.
Per the report, Weis and Smith flew to Baton Rouge on Monday for recruiting visits and then returned to Oxford to continue preparations for the game.
“Our main focus is on winning this game,” Mississippi athletic director Keith Carter told ESPN on Tuesday morning. “Charlie has been awesome, juggling two high-profile jobs. He’s been incredible. We have no complaints.”
Hopefully, Weis and Smith are getting two paychecks.
Not present for the Ole Miss game will be tight ends coach/co-offensive coordinator Joe Cox and receivers coach/passing game coordinator George McDonald. They both helped in the prior two CFP contests.
The situation has added to the perception/reality of chaos in college football, especially with the transfer portal opening four days ago. The LSU coaches had access to Ole Miss players who could be targeted for pursuit by Lane Kiffin, the Ole Miss head coach who now works for LSU.
The Ole Miss mishmash continues, five days away from the program’s first appearance in the CFP semifinal.
There continues to be no clarity about whether the group of offensive assistants whom LSU coach Lane Kiffin loaned to his former employer for the playoff run will stick around for the next game. However, Matt Hayes of USA Today has reported that offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. will work the Fiesta Bowl game against Miami.
Beyond Weis, who knows?
If the confusion is aimed at throwing the Hurricanes for a loop, it’s working. No one knows what the hell is happening with one of the final four competitors for the national championship.
There are scattered reports regarding other offensive coaches who had worked the first two Ole Miss games. The fan base — and the Mississippi taxpayers, who own the public institution — deserve something more definitive.
Someone surely knows by now who will and won’t be coaching the Ole Miss offense on Thursday night. The fact that no one is sharing that information in an official statement should be viewed as inexcusable by anyone with a direct or indirect interest in whether Mississippi will advance to the title game.
Maybe Lane Kiffin didn’t think Ole Miss would make it this far.
Regardless, with the Rebels beating Georgia on Thursday night to qualify for the semifinal round of the College Football Playoff, no one seems to know whether multiple LSU assistants will remain on loan to Ole Miss.
Via Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, it’s unclear whether the LSU assistants will stick around for next Thursday’s game against Miami, in the Fiesta Bowl.
Four offensive assistant coaches — offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., tight ends coach/co-offensive coordinator Joe Cox, wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator George McDonald, and running backs coach Kevin Smith — are under contract with LSU but coaching Ole Miss with Kiffin’s permission.
Matt Moscona of LouisianaSports.net reports that Weis was back at the LSU football facility on Friday morning.
Via Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com, some of the LSU assistants have “apparently pushed back” on the prospect of not trying to finish the job.
“There are going to be some fireworks,” an Ole Miss source told ESPN. “We always knew this might be a possibility.”
Said Kiffin to ESPN on Friday: “Everything has been extremely clear and transparent between myself and [Ole Miss coach] Pete Golding through constant communication, including a plan all the way through this historic championship run. What an amazing night for all Ole Miss players, coaches and fans.”
No one other than Kiffin or Golding seems to know what the “extremely clear and transparent” plan is.
Said Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter to Dellenger regarding whether the LSU assistants will stick around, “I don’t know. We’re going to celebrate tonight and get ready for Arizona in the morning.”
The job will become far more complicated if they need to replace four key offensive assistants on the fly.
Kiffin’s original decision to allow his LSU assistants to pull double duty was surely influenced in part by the fact that LSU will pay him the bonuses he would have earned at Ole Miss for this year’s playoff success. It also gave the LSU assistants direct access to Ole Miss players who may be entering the transfer portal in Oxford, and exiting it in Baton Rouge.
Coincidentally, the portal opens today.
If Kiffin refuses to let his LSU assistants continue to help Ole Miss toward a championship, it will seem as if Kiffin’s goal was to enhance LSU’s chances in the looming tug-o-war for Ole Miss players.
Why else would it be a partial assignment? If Ole Miss needed to get others up to speed to run the offense, that needed to happen earlier. With six days until a semifinal game, it’s the worst possible time for a transition.
But, hey, this is just another example of the chaos college football continues to create for itself. At this point, it’s almost as if the powers-that-be are looking for ways to cluster it up even more.
The better explanation continues to be good, old-fashioned incompetence. And there’s currently plenty of that when it comes to college football.
