Lane Kiffin was looking for a reason to leave Ole Miss before ultimately accepting the LSU job, a source close to the situation told ESPN. Athletic director Keith Carter\'s decision to demand a commitment before the College Football Playoff \"changed the narrative, changed the landscape a little bit,\" the source said.
Carter and chancellor Glenn Boyce met with Kiffin a week before the Egg Bowl, pressuring him to sign a lengthy contract extension that would have made him one of the highest-paid coaches in the sport. Kiffin informed them he had not made up his mind and did not think it was fair to decide before the regular season ended.
Boyce and Carter explored potential ways to keep Kiffin from coaching in the Egg Bowl and made clear he would not coach in the CFP if he accepted a job at Florida or LSU, Ole Miss sources told ESPN. The sides agreed the Rebels needed to focus on beating Mississippi State and potentially securing a CFP first-round home game.
Carter released a statement November 21 saying he expected a decision from Kiffin the day after the Egg Bowl. By that point, many Ole Miss fans were fed up with the drama surrounding their coach\'s future.
\"[Kiffin] was looking for a reason to leave,\" an Ole Miss source told ESPN. \"When Keith kind of put him on the clock, I think that kind of changed the narrative, changed the landscape a little bit.\"
Kiffin\'s family visited both Gainesville and Baton Rouge in mid-November, with the trips becoming public knowledge through online flight trackers. An Ole Miss source described the situation as a \"self-inflicted wound\" that angered the fan base.
One prominent booster told ESPN he informed the athletic department he would stop contributing money to the program if Kiffin returned. The fan base \"went from wanting to build a statue for him to wanting to run him out of town,\" the booster said.
Kiffin defeated Mississippi State 38-19 in his final game before leaving for LSU on Sunday. He threatened to take his entire offensive coaching staff with him after Ole Miss refused to let him coach in the playoff.