Golik: Pat Kraft Needs To Avoid a Lane Kiffin Situation

It’s often said that values and integrity get pushed aside when winning becomes the priority.

That idea sits at the center of the unfolding Lane Kiffin saga between Ole Miss and LSU.

Penn State is searching for a new head coach to replace James Franklin, who was fired on October 12. If there’s one pitfall athletic director Pat Kraft must avoid, it’s bringing a personality like Kiffin to State College.

On paper, Kiffin’s résumé reads like that of a coaching prodigy. He’s held major jobs at USC, Tennessee, Alabama, Ole Miss, and even in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders. He is also enjoying the greatest success of his career right now, guiding Ole Miss to an 11–1 record—tying the program mark he set in 2023. Ironically, that eleventh win came in the Peach Bowl against Penn State.

High achievers often share an insatiable drive. It’s what made Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, and Derek Jeter special. It’s also what elevated coaches like Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, and Nick Saban into football icons. Carroll and Saban, notably, both mentored Kiffin.

Carroll taught the philosophy of “always compete,” emphasizing culture and situational mastery. Saban, meanwhile, took Kiffin in at a low point in his career and rebuilt him through the Alabama process—one that has helped produce head coaches across the sport.

But Saban also witnessed firsthand Kiffin’s tendencies that Ole Miss is dealing with now. In 2016, as Alabama’s offensive coordinator, Kiffin pursued the Florida Atlantic job while wanting to stay with Alabama through its College Football Playoff run. Saban had other ideas, dismissing him before the national championship and elevating Steve Sarkisian instead.

It’s a pattern. And it goes back even further.

When Al Davis hired Kiffin to coach the Raiders, he saw a young offensive mind reminiscent of his own early rise. But while the Raider mystique embraced the “just win, baby” ethos, Davis expected loyalty within the family. Kiffin, he believed, violated that trust.

Davis’ press conference announcing Kiffin’s firing remains one of the most infamous in NFL history.

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“Lane Kiffin is a flat-out liar,” Davis said openly. He accused Kiffin of spreading misinformation internally and publicly, calling it “propaganda… going on for weeks and months and a year.” He ended with a blunt indictment: “I think he conned me like he conned all you people.”

Many in Oxford now feel similarly. Kiffin presented himself as committed to making Ole Miss his legacy program. He was steering the Rebels to heights unseen since Johnny Vaught’s era, when the program claimed national titles in 1959, 1960, and 1962.

Most coaches would be thrilled to be in Kiffin’s position. Instead, he has managed to alienate an entire state. Local reporters now compare his behavior to someone juggling multiple partners while insisting he should never have to choose. He wants all options open—and gets angry when questioned about it.

Meanwhile, Kraft faces a precarious moment of his own.

Franklin, now at Virginia Tech, has surged out of the gate and is building a near–Top 25 recruiting class with the early signing period approaching. LSU appears to have its coach. Auburn (Alex Golesh) and Florida (Jon Sumrall) filled their vacancies this morning. Penn State’s window is narrowing.

What Kraft cannot do is repeat the mistakes others have made by hiring a coach whose red flags overshadow his abilities.

For all Franklin’s flaws, his character was never in question. He didn’t  bring chaos, mistrust, or drama—three qualities that seem to follow Kiffin wherever he goes.

Kraft must ensure the circus unfolding between Oxford and Baton Rouge does not find its way to State College.