Lane Kiffin ‘abandoned a playoff team’ – Rece Davis on Kiffin leaving Ole Miss for LSU | SC with SVP

It was a dizzying day within the Southeastern Conference. They often are, as once again, the Americans saw its coaching ranks poach. John Sumrall from Tulane to Florida, Alex Golis from South Florida to Auburn, Ryan Silverfield from Memphis to Arkansas, Pete Golding will stay at Ole Miss, the permanent head coach there as Lane Kiffin finally is headed to LSU,

which means our colleague Marty Smith is finally free to go home. Host of the juggernaut that is College Game Day, it's Rhys Davis who joins us now. And RD, on your show for weeks now, you all have contemplated the possibility

that Ole Miss might be a playoff team and that Lane Kiffin might be coaching somewhere else next fall. Both those things have come to pass. Ole Miss not officially in but I think we can connect the dots. I'm interested in your sort of assessment, how it lands with you really I'm asking, that Lane is going to LSU. What do you think?

The first thing in the overwhelming sentiment is that he abandoned a playoff team. Now he has a right to do so. And I understand all of the arguments. The calendar is out of whack. It does present very difficult choices for coaches and for schools to make. All those things are true. But the thing that sits atop the list to me is that he left playoff team, a team that has a chance to do something Ole

Miss has never done in the modern era. They haven't won anything of national consequence since 1960. That was why I had said at one point, I think if I were an Ole Miss issues, I'd shoot my shot. He wouldn't get to take the trophy with him to Baton Rouge. It would belong in Oxford should they win it. But I completely understand Ole Miss' position in not letting him do it.

I understand the rivalry, I understand the discontent within the ranks and all of the problems of poaching players and coaches and all of those things, I get it. I still think I would have shot my shot with him, but this blame doesn't lie with Ole Miss.

And this blame doesn't lie with LSU. And this blame doesn't lie with LSU. All they did was pursue the coach they wanted and ultimately got him. If you want to call it blame or responsibility or whatever, it lies with one person, Lane Kiffin. He chose to do this, again, his right,

but he chose what was best for him. And in the process, he's left the playoff team.

because he's coached this team and put them in a position that they've not been before, they being Ole Miss. But this is a divorce, and the analogy I'd make is this. If you're leaving me for one of our neighbors, who I hate, but you tell me you wanna stay through Christmas for the kids,

I'm telling you to take your ass on down the road and we'll figure out Christmas with who's here. I appreciate it's a mature way to view it. Maybe I'm being immature, but dammit, I am. And I hold grudges and there's no way in God's green earth I'd let him coach my team.

I understand it. I really do, Scott. And I think, I am looking at it, I think largely devoid of emotion. Now, whenever I've said anything on game day about this, you know, the responses you get are that, you know,

you love this team, hate this team, hate this school, hate that school. I'm looking at it without emotion and saying, I think the best chance for Ole Miss to win a national championship would have been if they could have stayed the course and finished.

Now, could it have gotten sideways? Well, we have some empirical data and nine year old data, but some empirical data that splitting responsibilities didn't go well for him one time, different guy now, maybe it would have gone along just fine and swimmingly. I would feel differently Scott and maybe this is going to make people mad too.

I would feel differently if we were talking about Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, USC, even Notre Dame, even though they haven't won one in a while, but they've been there. Someone who's been there and been around, I probably would feel differently, would probably lean much stronger to your position on this. But I keep coming back, I think to the Ole Miss, it's been forever,

here's the chance, it's been forever. Here's the chance. Here's the chance. Um, but I understand why they didn't, especially once you know, look, I'm not, I wasn't there with Marty, but if the reporting was accurate and you know, uh, got to get on the plane and you don't have a job, all this stuff, if all of that is accurate, then I, then I certainly understand Ole Miss's position even more. And I feel like I already do understand it.

I get the logic of what you're saying for sure. My only, my point was, I just feel like this is a team that in this year has a shot. They got a shot, like several playoff teams do. And I would try not to disrupt that shot. That was my, that was the intent of my position.

And that's fair. But the whole thing's disrupted So now you just have to try to

get them.

You have to try to thrive in the midst of chaos. I do love Reese that on your podcast with Pete Thamel you reminded people because there's folks that are like this sports

crazy. This ain't new man. The coach of Ole Miss said, you're gonna have to take me out of here in a pine box. And a week later, Tommy Tuberville was very much alive and coaching another SEC team. This ain't new. But the calendar and all the NIL

and the portal and everything else, I think it just magnifies it to a point that perhaps is worse than it's ever been. I don't know, how do you assess that part of it?

I do think it makes it worse, but I also think it's an excuse. Look again, I don't fault LSU. They, they targeted the guy. They wanted to coach their program. They went after him. They got him. I mean, I've got no, I've got zero issue with that. They did it within the calendar. The best solution going forward is to adjust the calendar so that everybody can finish the season really so that every player can finish the academic year. I think Saban had a great idea that the one portal window

probably should be after the spring semester. I mean, we, we see players going in and picking up these offenses and all of this stuff in plenty of time anyway. I think a lot of the stuff, well, they have to get out or they won't win the job is not really accurate.

In most cases it's helpful, but it's not accurate. Every choice you make in life, Scott, every professional choice that you and I have made coming along, and we've had some difficult ones to make over the years, you make them given the set of circumstances

that are in play at the moment. This is not the last great job that was ever going to come open that was going to be available to Lane Kiffin. So he had an opportunity to say, man, I would really like to be the coach at LSU,

but I need to finish this and I'm not. And if you want to wait until we finish and talk, go ahead. And then LSU makes a choice whether it wants to do that. And people say, well, that's unrealistic. They've got to have this. They got to do the portal signing day, all that stuff.

Right. Make a choice, pick a lane, deal with it. And then if the parameters change in future years, then maybe you negotiate it differently. If you get the opportunity, when you're not a slam dunk playoff team,

maybe you make the choice you make right now. And I don't begrudge Lane. Everyone has to make the choices in their own self-interest. But let's call it what it is. When I make a choice professionally, when you make one, when Lane makes one,

it's not for the greater good of somebody else, it's for the greater good of us. And that's what he did here. He made the choice that he thought suited him best professionally

You and I have had some some choices to make through the years and you and I have sort of lifers here We're not and I think both of us grateful to be so we've both been here long enough Reese to remember when there were two teams and boy the Politicking then went on was crazy and then it got to four and it was better. Now we got a dozen and I'm not sure it's going to be enough because the back end of this is so crowded. And I don't know how the committee is going to be able

to articulate or explain how it is they intend to differentiate. What is your sense of that? Because I don't envy them trying to sort it out. Reese.

It's impossible, Scott. There are no right answers. There are just possible better ones. I mean, everybody in that group that you're talking about, all of those teams have legitimate claims to the spot. And to me, it also underscores why you will never find the perfect system

or perfect format. Because to me, and you and I talked about this extensively, last year, first year year the 12 team field I felt as if they had to get two or three teams in that were basically less objectionable than the ones that were left out. This year doesn't feel quite that way. This year it feels like that there are a lot of very similar teams. It doesn't feel like it. There are. These teams are all similar.

You can stack up resumes and say, see, this is the decision they can make. You can watch the tape and say, see, I don't care that Miami lost two games in the middle of the season. They're better than these other teams. You know, you can, it just depends on what you value.

And that's why the committee is in an unenviable position. It'll be fascinating to see how they stack them up and whether they stick to what they said a year ago and different committee members. So they're not beholden to this, but you'll recall them Ward Manuel said, basically a team that's not playing is not going to rearrange order.

So if that is still indeed the case on Tuesday night, we will at least know what we are dealing with going into it and whether it's only BYU that can play its way in or if they're going to take a broader view of all of those teams given this

set of circumstances with all of these similar teams. But you know this because you've been such an integral part of it through the years that often the committee has had somebody that could do them a favor on Saturday and make their job easier. I don't think they've got that this year. You know, short of the ACC going Mountain West and going, you know what, we should just put Miami

in this, to Charlotte, because they'd be a better representative. Come up with some math. But the common opponents between, what, them and Duke? They played two common opponents, Reese. What the hell are we doing? What do we? It's I mean, we love the sport.

So but it's so unwieldy when you get to this time of year and like that's who's playing for a conference championship.

It look congratulations to Manny Diaz. The rules were set and they have gotten through them. But I do think it underscores something that might be a little

wiser in the future. You're trying to make these tiebreakers and these unwieldy, great word by the way, mammoth conferences as objective instead of subjective as possible. I started thinking a week or two ago, what if the ACC tiebreaker was, you know, highest ranked team, you get to go to Charlotte.

Next highest ranked team, you get to go to Charlotte. And if you do that, you've got Miami and Virginia, and you don't have as much of a problem. And then Miami either wins his way in or it doesn't. Virginia wins its way in or it doesn't. And instead, you know, you have this, uh, unintended consequence of winding up with a five loss team, new championship game. I don't know how much of this is gonna make air, but man, it was a fun conversation. Reese Davis, I appreciate your time on both these topics.

They're legitimately fascinating, each and all of them. Tuesday night, we'll see what we got. Heading into the weekend, then come Sunday,

we'll find out who the dozen are. we'll find out who the dozen are. Reese, appreciate your time as always, my friend.