Some Ole Miss football team leaders dispute Lane Kiffin's version of LSU departure

OXFORD — Some of Ole Miss football's team leaders are disputing former coach Lane Kiffin's narrative of what happened when he left for LSU on Nov. 30.

Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter met with the players in the afternoon to inform them Kiffin was leaving and defensive coordinator Pete Golding was being promoted to coach.

Shortly after Kiffin was booed at the airport in Oxford before departing for Baton Rouge, he issued a 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 finishing strong, and investing everything into a playoff run with guardrails in place to protect the program in any areas of concern," Kiffin wrote in part.

"My request to do so was denied by Keith Carter despite the team also asking him to allow me to keep coaching them so they could better maintain their high level of performance," Kiffin wrote.

Ole Miss center Brycen Sanders quoted Kiffin's statement on X and refuted part of it.

" 'Despite the team asking me to keep coaching' I think everyone in that room would disagree," Sanders wrote Dec. 2 on social media.

Linebacker Suntarine Perkins quoted Kiffin's statement on X with a dig at his former coach.

"That was not the message you said in the meeting room," Perkins wrote. "Everybody that was in there can vouch on this."

Perkins referenced a meeting Kiffin had with some of Ole Miss’ team leaders before his exit, according to media reports.

Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at [email protected] or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss players say Lane Kiffin's version of LSU departure misleading