When Louisiana State University head coach Lane Kiffin returns to the University of Mississippi this weekend, he will be opposite where he stood for six seasons. Kiffin returning to Ole Miss is a reminder of how quickly college football can change.
This raises the question: Is there any loyalty left among coaches in college football?
Kiffin isn’t the only coach who has looked at a successful program as a stepping stone.
Curt Cignetti was the head coach of James Madison University from 2019 to 2023, winning 52 games in five years. After building JMU to a yearly contender in the Sun Belt Conference, Cignetti took the Indiana job in November 2023.
Cignetti’s coaching career has always been about moving up. With stops at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Elon University, JMU and now Indiana, Cignetti has worked his way up the ladder.
This is the reality of college football.
A coach can spend years building a program, powering them to national prominence and have his heart set in that town — until a better opportunity shows up at their front door.
When Cignetti left for Indiana, he did it the respectable way, acknowledging that he planned to retire at JMU and wrestled with the “difficult decision.”
On the other hand, Kiffin jumped to a different team in the same conference. He led Ole Miss to its first ever College Football Playoff appearance last year but left for LSU before that game was even played. Because of that, Kiffin will hear it from the Ole Miss faithful this weekend in Oxford.
From a fan’s point of view, a coach leaving means betrayal. But for coaches, departing for another job could be the best for their careers.
That opportunity, though, doesn’t always pay off.
Brian Kelly was the head coach of Notre Dame football for 12 years. Kelly brought the Fighting Irish back to national relevance, leading them to the Bowl Championship Series National Championship and the CFP twice, while being consistently ranked every year. Kelly ultimately left for LSU after the 2021 season, saying that he did everything he could at Notre Dame. He would last just three and a half years at LSU, before getting fired midway through the 2025 season.
With the transfer portal more prominent than ever, moving from school to school has become normal for players, and coaches are operating the same way. If a coach’s best players are consistently leaving, or the program lacks the name, image and likeness resources to compete, a coach may decide it is best to move on.
This doesn’t mean, however, that there is no loyalty left in college football. Some coaches are dedicated to staying put at the same school. Kirby Smart has been the head coach at the University of Georgia since the 2016 season, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day’s first full season with the program was in 2019, and Marcus Freeman has been the head coach at the University of Notre Dame since its 2022 bowl game.
Kiffin, Cignetti and Kelly all took different paths to their new jobs. Kiffin left Ole Miss for what he thought was a better opportunity, Cignetti used his JMU success to climb the coaching ladder and Kelly left for LSU, only to see his coaching career spiral from then on.
For coaches, these moves between jobs aren’t about abandoning the program they were once at. They are about doing what’s best for their careers. Coaches are judged on their ability to win football games, and if they feel the next job will help them do that, they have every reason to take it. In college football, having success at one program can be a stepping stone to the next.
Loyalty still exists in college football, though it might be harder to find. Prioritizing contract extensions and crafting a winning environment builds loyalty. But as long as bigger jobs with more resources to win are available, coaches will continue to leave for opportunities they believe are best for their careers. For fans, this can be a tough pill to swallow, but for coaches, it's just business.
