Officially, the Lane Kiffin Sweepstakes lasted five weeks. It was five weeks ago Sunday that LSU fired Brian Kelly and joined Florida in the pursuit of Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, who'd moved on from Billy Napier one week prior.
For those living on the inside of it, these past five weeks assuredly felt closer to five years. Or perhaps five lifetimes.
Either way, the drama met its end -- or, more accurately, moved into its next chapter -- at 2:03 p.m. Central time on Sunday, when Kiffin at long last announced his departure from Ole Miss to LSU. The announcement hit Twitter (where else?) minutes after it was reported Ole Miss is promoting Pete Golding to its full-time head coach.
That detail was important, because it's largely why this melodrama played out as long as it did. Kiffin could have announced a return to Ole Miss at any time, so as a reported Decision Day of last Friday dragged out to this Friday's Egg Bowl and then into Saturday, it was clear he was set to leave Oxford. What was up in the air was the timing.
In his departure letter, Kiffin confirmed he requested to coach Ole Miss through its upcoming and unprecedented run through the College Football Playoff. Had Auburn pulled off its comeback over Alabama in the Iron Bowl last night, Ole Miss would've had a game this Saturday opposite Georgia in the SEC Championship. Kiffin cited a request from the players for him to continue coaching, and blamed AD Keith Carter for not allowing him to continue.
With that possibility not resolved until late Saturday night, Kiffin reportedly attempted to leverage Ole Miss into having his cake and eating it too by threatening to take his entire staff with him to LSU immediately, depriving the Rebels of critical personnel in an upcoming Playoff game, thereby harming their chances of succeeding in the CFP and perhaps even jeopardizing their chances of making the 12-team field in the first place.
LSU will formally introduce Kiffin at a press conference on Monday.
Ole Miss's promotion of Golding is a defensive move to prevent the worst from happening. Could Golding prove to be a great head coach? Yes. Was his promotion now a move made with the present in mind at the possible expense of the future? Also yes.
While the future remains unwritten, one thing is certain: this drama is far from over. The events of these past five weeks will echo through Louisiana, Mississippi, and the entire South for years, if not decades.
And while the 2026 SEC schedule has yet to be set, one game has already been circled, highlighted and underlined: LSU plays at Ole Miss next season.