Charlie Weis Jr. staying at Ole Miss for CFP despite joining Lane Kiffin at LSU

Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. will stay with the Rebels through the College Football Playoff after all. 

Weis, who has coached at Ole Miss since 2022, was one of several staff members to join Lane Kiffin on the plane to Baton Rouge hours after he made the decision to bolt to LSU on Sunday. 

Kiffin gave his blessing to Weis to continue coaching the Rebels through the postseason. 

“I’m grateful to LSU for allowing me the opportunity to finish this season with Ole Miss,” Weis said in a statement. “Coach Kiffin and the LSU Administration have been nothing but supportive. I’m excited for the playoff run.”

Weis, one of six former Ole Miss coaches to make the move from Oxford to Baton Rouge, signed a three-year deal worth $6 million to be the Tigers’ play caller, making him one of the highest-paid assistants in the country, according to The Advocate. 

At 11-1 and ranked No. 7 in last Tuesday’s update before beating Mississippi State on Saturday, Ole Miss is all but a shoo-in to make the College Football Playoff.

“With the playoff committee releasing updated rankings tonight, I wanted it to be known that after conversations with LSU, we are allowing Charlie to return to Ole Miss to coach the team during the playoffs,” Kiffin said in a statement. “I’ve already made the committee aware of this and I’m hopeful this decision will allow Ole Miss to receive the highest ranking possible because these great players are very deserving of that. I’m excited that Charlie will be back to help coach the greatest team in the history of Ole Miss.”

While Weis is being welcomed back, the same can’t be said for Kiffin. 

Despite his wishes to coach the Rebels through the playoffs, the school wouldn’t allow Kiffin to keep coaching the team after he left for LSU. 

“Leaving Ole Miss was extremely difficult,” Kiffin told reporters during a press conference announcing his move to LSU on Monday. “Extremely difficult decision, and in that, we tried every single thing possible to continue to coach the team through the playoffs and continue to coach the players. In the end, that was their decision and I totally respect that.”’

Weis, the son of longtime college football and NFL coach Charlie Weis Sr., has coached alongside Kiffin at a few different spots, including Alabama and Florida Atlantic.

Pete Golding, who was the Rebels’ defensive coordinator before Kiffin’s departure, was promoted as the team’s permanent head coach.