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Lane Kiffin turned out to be a big winner on Saturday, even though he didn't coach a single game.
Ole Miss The Rebels defeated the Tulane Green Wave in the first round of the College Football Playoff. The Rebels' victory earned Kiffin a $250,000 salary thanks to the terms of his leaving the program to take a job with the LSU Tigers.
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New LSU head coach Lane Kiffin speaks at South Stadium at Tiger Stadium on December 1, 2025. (Matthew Hinton/Imagn Images)
LSU said it agreed to pay him playoff bonuses if Ole Miss continued winning in the playoffs. CBS Sports. If the Rebels are successful and win the national championship, Kiffin could be eligible for a bonus of up to $1 million.
Ole Miss defeated Tulane 41-10. Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was beaten but still managed to finish with three game-winning touchdowns – two rushing scores and one passing touchdown.
Kiffin congratulated Ole Miss on the victory.
Tulane football coach John Sumrall, left, and Mississippi football coach Pete Golding confer before a College Football Playoff game on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Oxford, Mississippi. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
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“Congrats to all the coaches and players @OleMissFB and especially @CoachGolding and seeing my two guys on the sidelines,” Kiffin wrote on X. “Great win today.”
It was Pete GoldingThis is Golding's first win as head coach at Ole Miss. With the pressure on Golding's shoulders to step out of Kiffin's shadow, he said it was helpful to have players who “really enjoy playing together and don't want it to end.”
Ole Miss defensive coordinator Brian Brown praised Golding's “praise.”
Lane Kiffin will replace Brian Kelly as head coach on December 1, 2025. (Matthew Hinton/Imagn Images)
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“He controls the room. He controls the narrative in everything he wants to control,” Brown said. “The guys believe in him as much as they do on defense and you can see how that has rubbed off on our whole team. He's just a great person, a great coach, a great motivator… and will be a damn good coach for a long, long time.”
Fox News' Shantz Martin contributed to this report.
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