Charlie Weis Jr. may be following Lane Kiffin to LSU, but unlike Kiffin he’s being allowed to coach Ole Miss through the College Football Playoff.
The Rebels posted a graphic to social media Tuesday showing their coaching staff for the postseason, which revealed Weis will remain their offensive coordinator for that time.
Pete Golding was promoted to head coach — no interim tag — when Kiffin decided over the weekend to accept the LSU job. Kiffin privately and publicly lobbied to be allowed to coach the Rebels in the playoff but Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter rejected the idea.
Weis, though, will be joining Kiffin’s staff at LSU after coaching the Rebels in the playoff. No reason was immediately given for the decision.
Kiffin released a statement expressing his full support of Weis coaching Ole Miss in the postseason.
“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 Tuesday. “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.”
Weis has helped Ole Miss rank third in total offense (498.1 yards per game), third in passing offense (309.6) and 11th in scoring offense (37.3 ppg) in Division I this season. The Rebels achieved this with Division II transfer Trinidad Chambliss at quarterback due to an early-season injury to QB1 Austin Simmons.
The coordinator is the son of Charlie Weis, the former head coach of Notre Dame (2005-09) and Kansas (2012-14).
It is not guaranteed but essentially a formality that Ole Miss (11-1) will be an at-large selection for the CFP field. The Rebels were ranked No. 7 last week before beating Mississippi State 38-19 in the Egg Bowl in Kiffin’s final game on the job. Their only loss came by eight points at Georgia, another playoff team.
Golding was the Rebels’ defensive coordinator before being promoted to the head job. Bryan Brown, the co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach, will handle the defense.
