Ole Miss players accuse Lane Kiffin of lying in his farewell statement

Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss amid heavy criticism from the Rebels fan base and much of the college football world. Now, his former players are calling him out for allegedly lying in his farewell statement.

Two Ole Miss players have disputed Kiffin’s claim in his public post on X that the Rebels asked him to coach them in their College Football Playoff appearance, a request he said athletic director Keith Carter denied.

“‘Despite the team asking me to keep coaching,’” Ole Miss starting offensive lineman Brycen Sanders posted on X, quoting Kiffin’s statement. “I think everyone that was in that room would disagree.”

Sanders, a sophomore center, is on the Rebels’ leadership council. He, along with other players, including starting quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, reportedly met with Carter on Sunday. Carter held a team meeting later that day to announce Pete Golding as the Rebels’ new coach — a meeting Kiffin said he was asked not to attend.

Offensive lineman Paris Wilkins posted in agreement with Sanders, writing, “Fax this was not said from anyone.” Fellow lineman Jayden Williams also posted his support of Sanders’ account.

Linebacker Suntarine Perkins was even more blunt than Sanders about his stance on Kiffin’s statement. Perkins is one of the Rebels’ most talented defensive players; he has posted 64 tackles and two sacks this season.

That was not the message you said in the meeting room. Everybody that was in there can vouch on this . https://t.co/tssQmvGgQ3

— suntarine perkins (@suntarine) December 3, 2025

“That was not the message you said in the meeting room,” Perkins posted on X. “Everybody that was in there can vouch on this.”

Former Ole Miss defensive tackle Tariqious Tisdale, who played for Kiffin in 2020, was also unhappy with his former coach.

“Don’t get me started on lane he’s been a snake since I met him,” Tisdale posted on Facebook. “And I got teammates that can vouch especially if you was there in 2020-2021 and played defense.”

Former Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. exited Oxford to follow Kiffin to LSU but returned to coach the Rebels offense for the postseason, a request Kiffin granted.

Kiffin was introduced as LSU’s coach Monday. He talked about his excitement for the job in Baton Rouge, while also expressing sadness about leaving Ole Miss.

“It’s the only way I could describe it. It sucked for a lot of people,” Kiffin said. “And there was no way to possibly do it better than the way we did.”

Kiffin described the decision to leave Ole Miss during such a pivotal moment in the program’s history as “excruciating and difficult.” He said the final call — made by Carter — to deny his request to coach the Rebels in the CFP came Sunday.

“I had already made the decision at that point and informed them Saturday night that this is what we were going to do,” Kiffin said. “That was a really hard conversation with Keith. Really hard. … There’s disappointment in that, but how can we do the best — knowing that I’m going to be head coach of LSU moving forward — how could we act in the best interest of the players and give them the best chance to win and make a run at the national championship in, most likely, the most historic sporting event in the state of Mississippi? A home playoff game? And it didn’t work out.”

Kiffin said he learned he would not be allowed to coach in the CFP about 30 minutes before a team meeting — the meeting in which players were informed of the situation and he did not attend.

“I hate that I didn’t get to explain to the players why, but I also totally respect and understand the decisions they felt they had to make for the program,” Kiffin said.