College Football Live - CFB Live - Coaching Carousel/What's Next for Rankings?

Episode Date: December 2, 2025

Join our crew Zubin Mehenti, Sam Acho, Tom Luginbill, Pete Thamel and Heather Dinich for another episode of College Football Live. Lane Kiffin introduced as LSU's new head coach, we'll hear from Kiffin and get the teams thoughts on the decision. Pete will give us insight on more coaching changes throughout the NCAA and how impactful those moves will be moving forward. With new CFP rankings coming out tonight, Heather will share who the committee needs to pay attention before making a decision. All that and more on CFB Live! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Get no frills delivered. Shop the same in-store prices online and enjoy unlimited delivery with PC Express Pass. Get your first year for $2.50 a month. Learn more at pceexpress.ca. Hey there. Welcome to college football live. Pete Dammelt, Tom Luginville, Sam, Macho. I'm Zubin Mahentie. You know, we're obviously going to start with Lane Kiffin, USC, left him behind at the tarmac at the airport, and he leaves Oxford Regional Airport behind with some fans, shall we say, waiting him goodbye. It might be the easiest way to stay at. They got on a couple planes from what I heard and landed in Baton Rouge. There he is with the new AD. Everyone is weighed in over the last 48 or 72 hours on Lane. So I guess it's only fair that Lane weighs in. itself. Obviously, last 48 hours in a lot of ways sucked. It's the only way I can describe it.

It sucked for a lot of people. And there was no way to possibly do it, in my opinion, any better than we did from a timing standpoint because it's a bad scheduling system of how it's set up. And eventually, hopefully it gets like the NFL where you can't do that in the season and don't have to make those decisions. I felt like everybody that I, talked to outside of the state that I was in all basically said the same thing okay they all said and you were going to regret it if you don't take the shot you don't go tell us you it's the best job in America is the best resources and and to win it but I said through the process okay I'm I'm never going to make a decision on money and I'm telling you right now I don't know what

my contract is here. That's not very financially responsible. I'm sure it's really good. I don't know what it is. Nor did I know what the other places what the numbers were. Because I said in the beginning, I told Jimmy Sexton, don't tell me the numbers, okay? I want to make a decision that has nothing to do with money for me. Now, tell me the numbers in the plan for what the money is for the players because that's everything in that area to me, okay, not what I make, what they make to understand how can you build this. You know who does care about the money? Jimmy Sexton, his agent as a reference to SEC schools and back-to-back seasons, fourth coach to do it in the last 30 years. Most recently, you may recall Dan Mullen did it when he went from Mississippi State to

Florida. All right, guys, so much to dig in on. Tom, I'm going to start with you. here. Bottom line, you can go back and discuss how this was all handled on Kiffin's Park, but your comment here really is, it's super hard to make a clean break in this situation, no matter who you are. Yeah, you're never going to please everybody in this

scenario. When it's the job, the caliber of an LSU, you do not not take it. You have to take it. And, you know, you can argue a debate back and forth. Did you know, Lane Kiffin show the type of maturity we would like to have seen? Did he handle this thing, the way you would have maybe liked to have seen it be handled?

But the reality of the situation is we've got National Signing Day for the first signing period tomorrow on Wednesday. Then you go into the month of December, you have a recruiting dead period. And then you've got the transfer portal after the first of the year prior to the national championship game. How do you make a clean break? Now, you can like him, dislike him, agree with him, disagree with him. But when you're going from this caliber of a job at Ole Miss that he's turned it into to the caliber of job, that he's going to right now.

You have to make this decision. You've got to make it. And you have to make it immediately. I just don't understand why he couldn't have still been coaching Ole Miss and why the Ole Miss administration didn't want him to continue to coach. I understand the conversation of, hey, we don't want this guy to steal our players. But Lane Kiffin was at Ole Miss for six years. He has deep relationships with every player on that roster and every coach on that roster.

So if they were going to leave after the championship or during the playoff or whenever he left. They were going to leave with him whether he coached that team or not. And I look at other teams as well, like John Summerall at Tulane. John Summerall is still going to be coaching Tulane if Tulane continues to make it. Look at Eric Morris from North Texas. North Texas might be ranked tonight. They only have one loss. They might be in the college football playoff if they beat Tulane. Eric Morris is going to a different school and he's still coaching his team. And so there's been this big mess made about on Lane Kiffin and how can he do this. He's demanding to leave and wants to still play and coaches got.

other teams are doing the same thing. And so my frustration is, hey, why wouldn't you have just let Lane Kiffin coach out the rest of his guys like other teams are doing as well, knowing the relationships are still going to be there, whether you play one, two, or three more games? Well, I think a couple of things come to mind if I were to rebut that. I would say that both Eric Morris and John Summerall are not going and making a job change within the same conference. In fact, they're moving up from the group of five to the power four. Now, when you look at that from a player evaluation and a transfer portal or a tampering perspective, there's not going to be more than a handful of guys on either of those two rosters at North Texas or Tulane that you're going to look at and say, okay, that's the caliber of player that we can win the SEC or the Big 12 with.

So I don't think you have the same level of concern as an administration allowing that to happen. With the Ole Miss and the LSU situation, you're trying to prepare an Ole Miss team to win college football playoff games, potentially win a national championship. And if you're doing it with the same individual that's going to be coaching at a rival within the same conference that will be targeting those types of players, there was no way

that Old Miss's administration was going to allow that to happen. And my rebuttal to your rebuttal would be, yes, there's no way. My rebuttal is this. The players are going to go regardless of whether he coaches them in the playoffs or not, the players who we have relationships with, look at Alex Golish. understand he left south florida he's going to auburn it's a bigger whatever you want to say a different

conference but the players and the relationships matter lugs you announce games just like i do you sit with these coaches you talk with these players so it's not as if lane kiff coaching o'miss for another game or two when the college football playoff is going to have him get even more guys than he would have got if he didn't leave i understand the precedent of hey well you're leaving you're going to coach them they'll forget about you but my problem is that hurts the players opportunity to have the best chance for success without Lane Kiffin who helped build the program. Fair enough. You mentioned Alex Kolis. We're going to hear from him in just a little bit as well as John Summerall, Pat Fitzgerald. Pete, I want to bring you into this conversation.

I was listening to the College Game Day podcast hosted by a couple of guys I really like. And one of them said, you know, Ole Miss hasn't won anything in 60 or 65 years. And that's why this is causing such a stir. But that clearly is not the level of expectation now at LSU in Lane's new job. So just help us understand what the expectations are going to be after this long protracted saga is essentially now over after six weeks. Zubin, that's easy to sum up. They are trophy case expectations. SEC titles and national titles and nothing less will be accepted.

Simply put, they fired Brian Kelly and could pay him up to $54 million for not coaching because he did not win titles. He won 70% of his games. He had double-digit wins in two seasons, but he was not bringing in the caliber of trophies to the trophy case that LSU demands. The state of Louisiana has more NFL players per capita than any other state in the country. It's the only dominant state school that has high-end college football, and in the state of Louisiana, they want championships. If Ed Ors were on won championships and Les Miles won championships, they will surely want championships from Lane Kiffin. And I believe Lane Kiffin can provide championships to LSU. And the reason why is what we heard in his introductory press conference.

The first thing he talked about wasn't about how much money he could get. He said, how much money can I get for my players, for my staff, for this team? Because he understands what it takes to compete. He competed at USC, been at Alabama. He built up a program at Ole Miss and took them to a college football playoff this season and a team that if he was still coaching probably could go really far. They may still go far without him. But that's what Lane Kiffin, I think, is going to be able to provide.

He's 50 years old. He's been through the ups. He's been through the downs. He's had his level of maturity and immaturity. We've seen a lot of coaches go through that cycle. And I think the expectation is not just from the outside in, but the inside out for Lane Kiffin to bring championships. And I think that they will come back to LSU.

Well, you know, Sam, I think the other thing in all of this is Lane Kiffin truly thrives, right, on the trolling, the hating, the internet interaction. I think it energizes him. I think it motivates him. He loves it. He loves engaging in it, right? It personally challenges him to do what people say he can't get done, which is exactly what he just did at Old Miss.

Now, listen, he is going to have a plan and name image and likeness. They are going to have a massive revenue share devoted to football. They're going to have a massive NIL package to divvy up into the different areas that they feel are most important. But what you've got to look at and why he got this job is decisions that he made at Old Miss with the transfer portal, how far ahead of it he was when he saw it coming. And the fact that they rarely missed on guys that they went after and paid a lot of money to is exactly why he's at LSU because he has even more of that now. And to sum it all up, he will nail the quarterback position.

And if you have a quarterback, you have a chance. No doubt. Her certainly Hope Lane is watching because right when you were talking, Tom, we put his contract details on the screen. It would be a shame if he didn't know how much money he was making. So there it is at seven years, $13 million. a season. Shout out to the graphics people for that. So Lane is out. Pete Golding is in. Now, this is interesting because Joe Judge, the former head coach of the Giants, was on the staff,

and you're approaching a really big situation here. Biggest game you've played since the Archie Manning era, but instead they bypass Judge and go to Golding, who does have a Mississippi background. He played at Delta State. His wife's family is from there. And the pull to come back home was certainly a big thing. Pete, let's go to you here. The one thing I kept tearing this weekend, as Heather Dinnich is also with this here, and we're going to talk about the ramifications of Ole Miss and all this in just a moment with Heather. I do know the one thing he and Kevin had in common. They both came from the Sabin tree, but tell us a little bit more about this guy who has been put into this job on a permanent basis and why the decision was made

so quickly to rip off any sort of interim label and say, you are our guy moving forward. Well, Zin, let's start with Pete Golding, four-year starter at safety at Delta State. So he's local, obviously, understands the state, understands Mississippi. He was a rising defensive coordinator through the ranks when Nick Saban unexpectedly plucked him from UTSA. He spent five seasons in Tuscaloosa under Sabin. Lane Kiven hired him over to Oxford to try to figure out that vexing defensive coordinator position, which often happens when you have an offense dominated head coach. And look, Golding is an established SEC coach. He's an excellent coordinator with a really good reputation. And the reason why, Zubin, they need to

to put something in place was they needed to keep some continuity, not just for the short term in the playoff, which was important for players, staff, et cetera, but also for the long term. They want Old Miss administration wants to keep this run going. They've had excellent NIL. They've been ahead of the curve in the SEC and figuring out NIL and paying players and they see continuity and Pete Golding is the best way to continue that. All right, Heather, this is the ramifications moving forward as we're sitting here about less than four or five hours away from the penultimate playoff ranking. which I know you'll be a part of tonight over on ESPN. There has been some discussion over what could happen to Ole Miss's seed.

When this was brought up at this time last week, Heather, there seemed to be a lot of scoffing, that that possibly couldn't happen. But I know you've had an opportunity to speak to Hunter Eurichick, the spokesman of the committee. Reese broached it last week on the show. What can you tell us about Ole Miss's standing now that they're standing and moving forward without Kiffin? Well, the selection committee's protocol says that they can consider the unavailability of key players and coaches and how that might affect a team's

performance in the postseason. They could drop a spot or two, but Hunter Your Check has said that they don't have a data point to see what Ole Miss looks like without laying Kippen on the sidelines. So the reality is they probably aren't going to see a big shift tonight in their place. they're probably still going to be in position to host a first round home game. But the point is, and Hunter Eurecheck did say this on the teleconference last week. This is something that the selection committee can consider when talking about Ole Miss. It's a great point. And listen, unless you're old enough for Archie Manning or Jake Gibbs or Glenn Griffin,

you are getting a home playoff game regardless of your seat. And it's going to be maybe the biggest moment most Ole Miss fans that tailgate at the Grove have ever seen in their lives. Great detail. Heather there. We'll see it tonight on the ranking show. Hang tight. Just a quick reminder here to vote for the team you think will be the Dr. Pepper one final team by using the hashtag one final team.

On the way, the coaching kerospell spins on. I mentioned we'll hear from Alex Kolis, John Someraw, Pat Fitzgerald, and Pete will take us inside what's going on at UCLA and Penn State. All that and more when college football live continues. College Football Live is brought to you. by Liberty Mutual Insurance, only pay for what you need. Hi there, surprise. 30 for 30 presents boo-ya.

Can I get a witness from the congregation? You can't stop authenticity. Boo-ya. Stuart was exactly like you saw him on-camera, off-camera. He dialed it up 10%. Can you imagine the impact of young black boys and girls looking at that going, I feel seen. He changed the culture. He changed sports.

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step up your game with no annual contract required it's the ultimate fan experience level up for more on the ESPN app or at stream.espn.com sign up now just a reminder this is vweak v.org slash donate with 100% of your donations going to cancer research in honor of our late great colleague jim valvano it's crazy day in the SEC on sunday slash Monday. Alex Golish, one of seven coaches hired or fired in the league. He of course gets hired on the planes. Here is Golish. He's the new man. Auburn hasn't had a winning season since 2020. Hair on my arm just stood up thinking about the Iron Bowl. I absolutely can't wait to be a part of, to be back to being a part of rivalries like that. It's, like I said, man, goosebumps. That's what you live for.

If you're any sort of competitor, if you're in this game, that's what you live for. And we'll be ready to rock. Sam, you've seen him a couple times at USF. What do you make of the hire? I think it's a great hire. I've got a chance to call a couple of USF games three or four over the last several years.

And Alice Golish says what he means. It means what he says. players coach. Players love him, relate really well to him, so recruiting should be a positive. And also, he has a great offensive mind and offensive scheme, consistently at top performer when it comes to output offensively. Biggest thing will be defense to get that figured out, but man, I like the higher. No doubt. He was born in Russia, has some SEC experience at Tennessee. John Summerall goes from Tulane to Florida. It's another G5 coach for the Gators, and their fans are grumbling. But Summerall tried to kill him with a little bit of humor. Pretty good idea.

and your opening press conference. I do want to be very direct on one thing, and you may or may not appreciate this, but Lane Kiffin and I have been going to the same thing. And we've talked a lot. We were both in agreement that I was the right man for this job, all right? So he co-signed on that. Lane's a dear friend, and I have to poke a little fun at him.

Good idea. Lugues, you've watched this guy from the broadcast booth. What do you make of this move? I love it. And I'll tell you this, if you're a Florida Gators fan, there will not be a player in that uniform that does not love football. Even John Somerall's own wife tells him his greatest strength is his greatest weaknesses. He doesn't know how to sugarcoat anything.

So if you're not going to do it a certain way, he is not going to compromise. That's going to be in recruiting. That's going to be in the transfer portal. And he knows how to build a program. Meanwhile, welcome back to college football, Pat Fitzgerald, banished at Northwestern. There's the tweet. He's in at Michigan State. This program is storied with a deep tradition of a passionate fan base, a commitment to excellence that spans way beyond the football field and into developing the young men.

Looking back over my time for more than two decades, my coaching philosophy has been centered around being the best player development program in the nation. We develop our young men as people, as students, and as world-class athletes. This will happen through a values-based approach, and the two cornerstones of those are choices that we make every day, and I express it to the team this morning, the choice of our attitude and the choice of our investment. And we will work relentlessly to make those two the cornerstones of what we stand for every single day.

Pete, I know recently on the aforementioned College Game Day podcast, Pat Fitzgerald was a guest from the intel you have there and what you're hearing. How is this move being received in the industry? Well, Zubin, I think the industry sees this as having a lot of Mark Dantoneo vibes, right? I mean,

you look at Pat Fitzgerald, he gets off the plane, he hugs the Spartan mascot, and they look like twins in terms of body type. Pat Fitzgerald is forever a linebacker, and he is going to instill that identity in Michigan. state that we saw at Northwestern and that we saw during that tremendous run of success under Mark Antonio. Pat Fitzgerald has been away from the game for three years. It'll be fascinating to see what

kind of staff he puts together and how he adjust. As we have chronicled here on College Football Live, the game has changed a lot in three years. Pat Fitzgerald has 110 wins, 10 bowl games on his resume. No one in the Big Ten knows the league better. What a fascinating experiment it's going to be to see Pat Fitzgerald in green. Yes. Antonio won three big. 10 titles. And the other side of this story is Jonathan Smith didn't even get two years on the job, but that's the new normal of college football. A couple other jobs I want to ask you about. Tell me what's going on with UCLA. Well, the Bruins have targeted Bob Chesney, the James Madison coach, to be the next coach there. Expect a five-year deal to emerge next week. Sources have told me. Chesney has been a stone cold winter. He's done at Holy Cross. He's done that Sauve Regina. He's done that assumption. And UCLA is looking for Bob Chessie. to do it again in Westwood. As for BYU coach Kalani Sataki, Zuban, sources tell me that he's emerged as the focus of the Penn State job.

I've been told to not expect formal clarity on anything with Sataki and Penn State until after the Big 12 title game. Sources have said Penn State officials have gone and seen Sataki, and it's also notable, Zubin, that Penn State's search has gone quiet the last few weeks. We'll see if the sides can get together formally after the Big 12 championship. Very quiet, stealth job by Pat Kraft, and the first ever Sal Virginia shout out on college football live. Shout out to the great state of Rhode Island. On the way, the penultimate playoff rankings out tonight.

Heather, the playoff insider, back with the things you have to find out tonight and what it all might mean for this Sunday. We're back on college football live. Here's how Championship Week stacks up from Friday through Saturday night. It's time for our Capital One rewarding performance. That's going to be Malachi Tony of Miami. He did everything on Saturday. He had 13 catches, including this one. Wow.

He also rushed for 50 yards, and he threw a touchdown, which you're seeing right here. Now all Miami can do is sit and wait. and that is your Capital One rewarding performance. Heather is back. Obviously, Miami's been at the center of every discussion we've had here since the rankings have come out. Penultimate rankings, you'll be on the coverage tonight over on ESPN. What are the biggest things you're looking forward to see and we need to pay attention to tonight? Well, it does start with Miami.

I think there are three main things. And the first question is, has Miami closed the gap at all with Notre Dame? And it's important to remember that the committee is still comparing them against BYU and Alabama as well. So that's the first question. The second question is, is Texas anywhere in the conversation right now with what is the best win in the country against Texas A&M? And quite frankly, one of the best resumes overall. I still think they're going to be on the outside looking in, needing some help. And then finally, JMU, are they even ranked? They haven't been so far because their strength of schedule has been so bad.

But if they are, that does open the possibility that the ACC could be left out entirely if five lost Duke wins the ACC. But I wouldn't roll out Duke in the playoff either. You got about 30 seconds left. This has been percolating. Does Alabama have anything to worry about? If Alabama loses and finishes as a three-loss SEC runner up there in danger of being left out of the playoff. They could still be the committee's highest ranked three lost team, but bumped out for a

conference year. Ten seconds here, Heather. What do we know about Duke? You said we don't know much about JMU. The committee hasn't ranked Duke either. What do we know about them? If Duke beats Virginia Zubin, they will have a top 20 win. They will have seven wins against power for opponents. The committee will consider that. JMU doesn't have any. That's why I say don't rule them out. All right. So many interesting things to keep in mind. Once again, playoff rankings tonight with Reese, Booger, Greg, Joey, and Heather at the Magic Wall

tonight, 7 p.m. Eastern on ESPN, and then, of course, we'll get to Sunday, Selection Day, December 7th. Thanks for joining us. A reminder, tomorrow is National Signing Day with coverage on ESPN 2, starting at 2 p.m. Eastern. We'll see you tomorrow.