Lane Kiffin has faced some backlash over his decision to leave Ole Miss and become the head coach at LSU, and Bill Cowher feels that the criticism is more than warranted.
Kiffin signed a massive deal with LSU on Sunday. The 50-year-old coach said he wanted to continue coaching at Ole Miss through the end of the season with the Rebels headed to the College Football Playoff, but his former boss was not open to that arrangement.
Cowher discussed the situation during a Monday appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show.” The legendary Pittsburgh Steelers coach and Super Bowl champion was asked if he would have allowed Kiffin to coach Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff. Cowher did not mince words.
“You decided to go to LSU. Thank you, and goodbye,” Cowher said. “What, let you come here? Let you come here for the next month and talk about how great LSU is over Mississippi? Are you kidding me, seriously? To even ask that question, that’s arrogance.”
Cowher then called the timing of Kiffin’s departure from Ole Miss “a disgrace.”
“I think what happened over there is a disgrace to the coaching profession. I would just say this — the coaching profession is about developing young men,” Cowher added. “It’s not about chasing the greener grass somewhere else and being an ambulance chaser and going, ‘Oh, I can fix you.’ And then when you fix that, let me go here and fix that. It’s about developing young men. It’s about trying to create tradition, pageantry for the institution that you work for.”
Cowher said the lack of structure within the NCAA has created massive issues that don’t exist in the NFL. He believes the players are the ones who “get lost” because of that and have to suffer. You can hear more of his comments:
"I think what happened there is a disgrace to the coaching profession…the coaching profession is about developing young men – it's not about chasing the greener grass to somewhere else."
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) December 1, 2025
– @CowherCBS on Lane Kiffin leaving Ole Miss for LSU. pic.twitter.com/mr4iXQpfyW
LSU was not in a position to wait for Kiffin, so Kiffin either had to accept the job or commit to Ole Miss. He chose the former, and he suggested that one of the greatest coaches of all time helped nudge him in that direction.
There is always going to be animosity toward Kiffin in Mississippi because of the way he left Ole Miss, and Cowher does not blame people for being furious.
