Lane Kiffin released a Sunday explaining he accepted the head coaching job at LSU but was not granted both his wish and the wish of his team that he remain to coach Ole Miss through the College Football Playoff.

It turns out some of the Rebels players reportedly weren’t particularly supportive of the coach.

of CBS Sports reported multiple players “confronted” Kiffin when reports started to circulate that the head coach threatened to take the school’s offensive staff with him to LSU if he was not allowed to coach in the CFP.

“I’m not making them go,” Kiffin told the players. “They can do whatever they want.”

Talty described the conversation between Kiffin and Ole Miss officials as “tense” regarding his desire to coach in the CFP and noted the coach “refused to directly answer whether he had told his on-field offensive staffers that if they didn’t get on the plane with him to Baton Rouge the next day, they wouldn’t have a spot on his LSU staff.”

The report also described a situation where some players supported Kiffin’s preference to remain through the CFP, although it was far from a “widespread feeling” with others growing frustrated the entire ordeal overshadowed Ole Miss’ push to reach the CFP and 11-1 season.

“Some even told the Ole Miss administration they cared more about whether their position coaches were staying than Kiffin at that point,” Talty reported.

It is certainly a different picture than the one Kiffin portrayed in his statement saying the team asked athletic director Keith Carter for him to remain through the CFP.

Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reported offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., wide receivers coach George McDonald, general manager Billy Glasscock, senior associate AD for football operations Thaddeus Rivers and strength coach Nick Savage are all expected to go to LSU with Kiffin.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Ole Miss is naming Pete Golding as the “permanent” head coach, so not every notable member of the staff is heading to the Tigers.

Whether Kiffin would remain and attempt to lead the Rebels through the CFP was clearly a sticking point, and he told reporters Monday, “We tried everything possible to try to coach that team through the Playoff.”

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and Thamel reported before Kiffin was officially announced as the head coach at LSU that “Ole Miss doesn’t want Kiffin around its players with the transfer portal opening on Jan. 2. The Rebels also don’t want their CFP games to be a ‘commercial’ for LSU’s future under Kiffin.”

That Kiffin would want to finish what he started with a national title contender this season comes as no surprise. At the same time, it comes as no surprise Ole Miss officials wouldn’t want someone who is leaving to coach a conference rival to remain around the program when things such as the transfer portal are such major topics in the modern era of the sport.

Ultimately, the entire ordeal will remain a major talking point for both programs well into the future, especially when they face each other during the 2026 campaign.

That will be a home game for Ole Miss, and the fans likely aren’t going to have a warm welcome for the school’s former coach.