By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Ole Miss may be under more pressure to beat LSU Saturday because it has more proven skill talent with quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy, LSU coach Lane Kiffin said Monday.
“You just get to go play. The pressure’s not on you.”
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) September 14, 2026
-LSU coach Lane Kiffin on Ole Miss game to his players this morning.https://t.co/lFQWYHGXlG
But Kiffin said Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding has an advantage against him going into Saturday’s top 10 tilt between No. 7 LSU (2-0) and No. 8 Ole Miss (2-0) at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi, on ABC.
“I think this is really an unusual thing,” Kiffin said Monday at his weekly press conference. “There’s so much familiarity with coaches.”
Kiffin brought eight assistants with him from his Ole Miss staff to LSU. Those are LSU offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., co-offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Joe Cox, passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach George McDonald, assistant head coach/running backs coach Kevin Smith, inside receivers coach Sawyer Jordan, quarterbacks coach Dane Stevens, co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Chris Kiffin and defensive line coach/pass rush specialist Lou Spanos all left the Ole Miss staff after last season for LSU.
Coaching at Ole Miss under Golding from LSU is only associate head coach/running backs coach Frank Wilson, who held that title last season with the Tigers in addition to interim head coach for the final five games. Golding still calls the plays for the Ole Miss defense after being its defensive coordinator from 2023-25 under Kiffin before taking over after the regular season. Golding promoted Ole Miss co-defensive coordinator Bryan Brown to DC. Brown had been under Kiffin on Ole Miss’ staff in 2024 and ’25.
So, advantage, Ole Miss, because familiarity breeds more knowledge for the underlings, said Kiffin, who was offensive coordinator for coach Nick Saban at Alabama from 2014-16 before becoming head coach at Florida Atlantic (2017-19) and then at Ole Miss (2020-25).
“When I worked for Saban, I think after I left, it benefitted me (as Ole Miss head coach), much more than it benefitted him,” Kiffin said.
Kiffin lost to Saban and Alabama four straight times as Ole Miss’ head coach – 63-48 in 2020, 42-21 in 2021, 30-24 in 2022 and 24-10 in 2023. But he still felt he had the coaching knowledge advantage as he ran the offense against Saban’s defenses, while Alabama held the player talent advantage.
“Because I had listened for three years to all the things that he would teach us that he (Saban) didn’t like,” Kiffin said. “And then we ended up using that (what he didn’t like against him). I think in this way, this benefits them (Ole Miss and Golding) more than us in the coaching way, because Pete sat there and for the three years we’re together, and he’s hearing me say what I don’t like to play against. Because as a head coach, Saban and I are much more going to tell the assistants what we should play and things that cause us problems, more than than the coordinator’s going to tell the head coach – if that makes sense.”
In other words, Golding knows the types of defensive strategies, alignments and tactics that Kiffin would prefer not to coach against more than Kiffin knows about the offenses that cause Golding problems. This is because, in general, head coaches are more revealing than the assistants on their staff because they’re in charge.
So, look for Kiffin perhaps to try to change some of his tendencies as an offensive coach that he thinks Golding may know about, and vice versa.
“To me, I think it goes both ways,” Golding said at his press conference Monday when asked about the coaching ties. “Obviously, there’s a lot that you know about them on both sides — them about us, us about them. There’s a very big database of going against somebody for three and a half years – every spring, every fall camp, all the scrimmages. I think it’s really easy to overthink things as well, and try to have a plan for everything they’ve ever done under the sun, which is really tough within one week for your players. I think you can outthink yourself sometimes.”
Coaches on both sides could think themselves dizzy.
“You’ve got to put your focus and decide what you’re trying to stop, based on who they have and who we’ve got, and then be able to adjust to some other things,” Golding said. “I think sometimes you make it a lot harder than it should be when you know somebody really well. But we know it’s going to be really challenging. Charlie (Weis Jr.) does a really good job.”
Golding tried to keep Weis from going to LSU last season.
“Obviously, Lane does a really good job on game day as well,” Golding said. “They’ve got a good quarterback. I think it’s good that there’s familiarity, but sometimes for coaches, we overthink it a little bit.”
Kiffin has sure given it some thought.
“It is unusual, and I know lots is going to be made about me,” Kiffin said. “But this is about the players being prepared really well and playing really well. Pete’s not going to tackle anyone. I’m not going to throw any touchdowns. I used to say the same thing when we played coach Saban. Then he’d joke that he wouldn’t do very well in coverage at his age. We’ve just got to prepare really well. It won’t be about all the other stuff and the noise and other things.”
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