Lane Kiffin makes statement after LSU football hires coach

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Lane Kiffin released a statement on his social media account Sunday after news broke that LSU football hired Kiffin to be its next head football coach.

“After a lot of prayer and time spent with family, I made the difficult decision to accept the head coaching position at LSU,” Kiffin said.

In the statement, Kiffin expressed his emotions about leaving Ole Miss ahead of a projected College Football Playoff appearance. Reports prior to the announcement of Kiffin heading to LSU said he wanted to remain with the Rebels through the postseason but Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter denied the request, per Kiffin’s statement.

“I was hoping to complete a historic six season run with this year’s team by leading Ole Miss through the playoffs, capitalizing on the team’s incredible success and their commitment to finish strong and investing everything into a playoff run with guardrails in place to protect the program in any areas of concern,” Kiffin said, “My request to do so was denied by Keith Carer despite the team also asking him to allow me to keep coaching them so they could better maintain their high level of performance.”

“Unfortunately, that means Friday’s Egg Bowl was my last game coaching the Rebels.”

Kiffin finished out his statement by paying respect to his time in Oxford and wishing the team well ahead of the first College Football Playoff berth in program history.

“While I am looking forward to a new start with a unique opportunity at LSU, I will forever cherish the incredible six years I spent at Ole Miss and will be rooting hard for the team to complete their mission and bring a championship to Oxford,” Kiffin said.

As soon as the Tigers relieved Brian Kelly of his head coaching duties, Kiffin immediately became the top target. LSU’s effort, led by newly-appointed athletic Verge Ausberry and the board of supervisors, got their leading candidate.

This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: Lane Kiffin makes statement after LSU football hires coach

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