“Shame on the Whole System”: Michael Irvin Sides With Ole Miss Players Amid Lane Kiffin-LSU Rumors

After six productive seasons with the Ole Miss Rebels, Lane Kiffin is finally due to become one of, if not the highest-paid, coaches in all of college football. The 50-year-old gridiron guru is currently mulling over a possible contract extension with the Rebels. But then, he has reportedly also received lucrative offers from a desperate LSU team, as well as several other programs.

It’s been a rough football season down in the bayou. The New Orleans Saints are 2-8. The Tigers performed an emergency firing of Brian Kelly, and if it weren’t for Tulane, the state likely wouldn’t even have its name mentioned on national television.

LSU, one of college football’s greatest juggernauts in recent times, now finds itself scrambling. They are looking towards Kiffin to be their savior, but according to Michael Irvin, everyone, including LSU, should be giving Kiffin the chance to see the current job through before flooding his inbox and voicemail with potential offers.

“Shame on the whole system,” the NFL Hall of Famer proclaimed during the latest recording of his self-titled YouTube show.

“You guys shouldn’t even be able to talk to these coaches that are ranked like this right now, because of the work that the kids put in. And if you do talk to them, it should never be talked about in public… Let these kids have an opportunity to live their dream of winning a championship without hearing this kind of stuff,” added Irvin.

It’s an unfortunate byproduct of the business side of football, and it will likely never go away. After all, in a day and age where player agency is at an all-time high, it’s only fair that coaches are dealt a similar dose of publicity whenever they are potentially leaving a program.

According to Ole Miss’ athletic director, fans of Ole Miss, LSU, and even Florida should all be circling November 29th on their calendars as Kiffin’s supposed decision day. From contracts to playoff implications, this figures to be one of the biggest head coaching announcements in recent years, so fans shouldn’t be surprised at any particular outcome here.

Everything will be decided by Kiffin’s priorities and moral compass. And unless you know him rather intimately, it’s almost impossible to have any idea as to which program those may lead him to. What is certain, however, is that once there, he figures to transform that team into an immediate contender.

After all, you don’t just casually get the right to reset the market on CFB head coaching contracts; you have to earn it. And Kiffin has absolutely done that.