Lane Kiffin’s $500,000 Bonus Comes From an Ole Miss Win He Didn’t Coach
One of the strangest storylines of this College Football Playoff season unfolded after Ole Miss pulled off its thrilling 39–34 Sugar Bowl win over Georgia. While Rebels fans were celebrating a historic victory and a trip to the CFP semifinals, a surprising financial winner was sitting miles away in Baton Rouge. That winner was Lane Kiffin.
Even though Kiffin left Ole Miss last month to take the head coaching job at LSU, he is still cashing in on the Rebels’ playoff success. Thanks to a clause written into his new contract, Kiffin received a $500,000 bonus because Ole Miss advanced to the CFP semifinals. The agreement reportedly promised him the same postseason bonuses he would have earned had he stayed in Oxford, a detail that now feels almost surreal given how everything has played out.
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This bonus came on top of the $250,000 Kiffin already received after Ole Miss defeated Tulane in the first round of the playoff. And the numbers could keep climbing. If the Rebels go on to beat No. 10 Miami in the semifinals, another $750,000 would be added. If Ole Miss somehow wins the national championship, a final $1 million bonus would be triggered, turning it into one of the most bittersweet payouts college football has ever seen.
What makes this even more awkward is that Ole Miss achieved all of this without Kiffin on the sideline. After his departure, defensive coordinator Pete Golding stayed behind and took over as head coach. Golding is set to receive the same bonuses tied to the playoff run, making him the one actually doing the work while Kiffin benefits from the contract language.
Kiffin had pushed to remain with Ole Miss through the playoff, but the school declined, understandably unwilling to have a future LSU coach running the program during a critical recruiting period. Whether he would even attend the Sugar Bowl became a storyline of its own. Instead of being in New Orleans, Kiffin was seen at an LSU women’s basketball game earlier in the day, supporting Kim Mulkey. Later, it appeared that at least his family made it to the game, and Kiffin himself posted celebratory messages on social media afterward.
Meanwhile, Ole Miss fans made their feelings very clear. As the clock ran out on Georgia, chants aimed directly at Kiffin echoed through the stadium. It was a raw reminder of how complicated this breakup has been.
As Ole Miss prepares for a semifinal showdown with Miami, the situation only grows stranger. The Rebels are chasing a championship, their former coach is collecting bonuses from afar, and college football is left watching one of the most unusual playoff stories ever continue to unfold.
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