Lane Kiffin's return to Ole Miss
College football's second week of the 2026 season delivered major upsets on September 13: unranked Michigan beat No. 11 Oklahoma in Ann Arbor, No. 5 Texas erased a 23-3 fourth-quarter deficit to shock No. 1 Ohio State behind quarterback Arch Manning, and Oklahoma State -- fresh off a loss to Tulsa the week before -- upset No. 6 Oregon 39-31 under new head coach Eric Morris, snapping a 21-game losing streak to FBS opponents. The chaos set up what was billed as the most anticipated game of the young season: LSU head coach Lane Kiffin's September 20 return to Oxford, Mississippi to face the Ole Miss program he abruptly left for LSU roughly ten months earlier, in the middle of Ole Miss's first-ever College Football Playoff run. Kiffin's departure -- negotiated secretly while he continued coaching Ole Miss, only finalized weeks before the Rebels' playoff game against Tulane -- was widely seen as a betrayal in Oxford; several assistant coaches and, later, four players followed him to Baton Rouge after Ole Miss was eliminated by Miami in the semifinals.
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As it ran
15 September 2026
14 September 2026
- Lane Kiffin’s return to Ole Miss CNN
- Lane Kiffin’s bitter divorce with Ole Miss reopened old wounds. He returns this weekend as Public Enemy No. 1 CNN
- Kiffin insists pressure is on Ole Miss as he plots a return to Oxford Fox News
- Lane Kiffin, hidden meth, crumbling friendship. Catch up on the day’s stories CNN