Former Florida and Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher isn't happy that several Ole Miss assistants won't be coaching the Rebels. on Thursday night at the Fiesta Bowl.
Four offensive assistants are headed with Lane Kiffin to LSU. While offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. and running backs coach Kevin Smith will be with the Rebels against Miami, tight ends coach Joe Cox and wide receivers coach George McDonald will not be with the team. And Fisher believes Kiffin became a “villain” because of the way his departure ended.
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On the ACC Network's “Inside ACCess” Wednesday night, Fisher suggested that Kiffin “didn't count on the [Ole Miss] While Kiffin is recruiting for his new job – one that he believed gave him a better chance at a national title – Ole Miss is a win compared to the national championship game.
“He thought his dysfunction in caregiving would cause dysfunction in them,” Fisher said. “No, it brought them together. And these coaches came back because they love the kids, and they did it, and now he's pulling them back. When you made that decision back then, to say they can coach, they have to coach all the way through. I'm not saying they can't staff during the day, during the week, can plan the game – you have computers, you can break down the game plan, call the kids, have a zoom meeting, and then I'll be back in the game, I'll be back two days before the game. – this is where he is wrong.
“He thinks he's being made out to be the villain. He's right right now. Because it's wrong. These kids have the opportunity to do something – You know I have a national championship ring? … You don't have those opportunities. And what they did. And for them to have the opportunity to win a national championship … you made that decision a month ago, you live by it throughout the playoffs. And he's wrong for doing that, and I'll say he's wrong. I have no problem saying that.”
New Ole Miss coach Pete Golding has the ability to go 3-0 in the College Football Playoff before Kiffin has ever coached a playoff game himself. Golding, the team's defensive coordinator, was named Ole Miss' coach when Kiffin was leaving for LSU. And the Rebels beat Tulane and Georgia to come within two wins of their first national title in more than 60 years.
Wednesday, Golding made it clear that he wanted to create a program where “one person, one player or something like that” wouldn't derail it.
“I’m replaceable, you’re replaceable, our players are replaceable,” Golding said. “I think you want to build the program so that it's moving in the right direction and it can't be derailed by one person or one player or anything like that.
“There was too much invested in this, and it was properly designed that one person could not influence something so radically. If so, then it's probably not built correctly. If one coach in any sport can determine the outcome, he probably doesn't have a very good staff. “I mean, if one player can determine the outcome, we probably haven’t recruited or built the depth we need.”
