Ole Miss AD fires back at Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkisian with social media flex

Story by

Troy Finnegan, ClutchPoints

Tue, May 12, 2026 at 10:04 PM UTC ·

2 min read

Ole Miss AD fires back at Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkisian with social media flex appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

Ole Miss football has been in the spotlight once again this week, and once again it was thanks to former head coach Lane Kiffin . Kiffin, who controversially left the Rebels for LSU right before the College Football Playoff, took some shots at Ole Miss in the media .

Among other things, Kiffin stated that one of the reasons why he left Ole Miss was because of the use of Civil War imagery in the state of Mississippi, which he later apologized for. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian later joined in on the pile-on, implying that all you had to take to graduate from Ole Miss as a transfer is “basket-weaving.”

To the surprise of nobody, Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter wasn’t exactly a fan of those comments from rival SEC coaches. On Tuesday, he fired back at the comments with a post on social media.

“Kind of amazing how uncomfortable our success is making some people. #rebelnation,” Carter wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Carter became somewhat of a household name last fall during the whole Kiffin saga, as he became the face of the Rebels’ side of the debate before Pete Golding was hired.

Golding did an excellent job filling in for Kiffin, leading Ole Miss to a pair of wins in the CFP before losing to Miami in the semifinals. His work in the interim after Kiffin left earned him the full-time job, and now he has Ole Miss set up for success once again in 2026.

Trinidad Chambliss is back at Ole Miss after getting a waiver to return in 2026, and he will enter the season as a leading Heisman Trophy contender and one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. Kewan Lacy is also back at running back and is a projected first-round pick in 2027.

Golding reworked his defense in the transfer portal, which should give this Ole Miss team a balanced attack heading into next season. With the extra motivation from Sarkisian and Kiffin, the Rebels will be a very tough out in 2026.