Lane Kiffin has taken a public beating from everyone outside the LSU Tigers fan base for how he handled bailing on Ole Miss amid their best season ever. However, to LSU fans, it didn’t matter at all that he chose to abandon Ole Miss after building up the program into a national title contender. It just mattered that he was with the Tigers now.

Unfortunately for Tigers fans, Kiffin has already allegedly abandoned them, at least when it came to the LSU vs. Houston game on Saturday. Tigers fans might shrug it off, but it is a bit funny how Kiffin handled things amid the Texas Bowl.

Lane Kiffin allegedly departed extremely early from the LSU Tigers’ bowl game

Lane Kiffin is incredible with social media and handling his public persona, so he kicked things off on Saturday, making sure he got photos from the field before and during LSU’s bowl game against Houston. Then, of course, he joined the ESPN broadcast crew for an interview since he’ll be taking over as the team’s new head coach. That was all fine and good.

However, apparently shortly after Kiffin’s on-screen interview, he was filmed leaving the stadium far before the Tigers inevitably lost 38-35 to the Houston Cougars. This video in the post below began circulating on social media when the game was only about half over. It’s clearly Kiffin. A few fans actually call out his name, and he responds. He gets into the black SUV, and it drives away.

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Now, it’s unclear as to the exact timing and whether Kiffin officially left the game for the remainder of the action, but it certainly looks like that it is the case.

Does this matter? To angry Ole Miss fans, absolutely, because they’re still angry at Kiffin for leaving. So yes, several of them tried to bash Kiffin on social media for leaving his new team in a familiar manner. However, it’s really not a huge deal. LSU fans were quick to point that out in his defense.

Kiffin isn’t technically overseeing the team yet — at least he wasn’t in terms of the on-field performance on Saturday. It is quite hilarious that he chose to pull a move he’s become notorious for recently — leaving his team in the middle of something — but ultimately, this won’t matter in the grand scheme of things (let alone a few days from now). Hilarious, and perhaps a tad ironic? Definitely. Significant in meaning? No. Sorry, Ole Miss fans. Just take care of business in the College Football Playoff and stop worrying about Lane Kiffin.

We’ll be back with more LSU Tigers coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!

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This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Dec 28, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.