Lane Kiffin makes bold addition to Ole Miss staff in former NFL coach and brother Chris Kiffin 

Lane Kiffin made a last-minute hire to his coaching staff ahead of the 2024 college football season. According to ESPN’s Chris Low, the Ole Miss coach is reuniting with his brother, Chris Kiffin, who will join the Rebels as an analyst this season.

“The Kiffin brothers are back together,” Low wrote on X. “Chris is joining older brother Lane as an analyst at [Ole Miss]. Chris was Lane’s [defensive coordinator] at FAU in 2017 and spent the past six years in the NFL. Kiffin continues to accumulate a wealth of experience, both NFL and college, on his staff.”

Chris was hired by Lane in January 2022 as a linebacker coach and co-defensive coordinator. However, he departed the program for the NFL less than a month after taking the job. He now makes an unexpected return to the program ahead of the 2024 college football season.

Chris and Lane Kiffin’s coaching history

Before the short stint at Ole Miss in 2022, Chris and Lane Kiffin previously worked together in college football. Chris was a defensive assistant under Lane at USC in 2010.

Years after their first collaboration, Lane hired Chris as defensive coordinator after he got the Florida Atlantic head coaching job in 2017. Chris spent only one season with the Owls.

Lane wanted him to replicate what he did at Florida Atlantic at Ole Miss by offering him a job in 2022. However, the appeal of the NFL didn’t make Chris stay on with the Rebels. He returned to his role as Cleveland Browns defensive line coach after previously exiting the job

“I think he’s been a lot of places and ran our defense at FAU when we were really good that year,” Lane Kiffin said of is brother’s hire in 2022. “He then went to the NFL since then, learned at a lot of different places, had really good players, so that makes it easy to recruit too.

“Having been here before when they were really good, I think is really good for him recruiting for players to know, ‘Hey, okay, he coached these guys who were here before. I’m glad for that.'”

Chris Kiffin’s experience vital for Ole Miss

Lane Kiffin developed Ole Miss to become one of the best teams in the world of college football. The Rebels could be a contender in the Southeastern Conference to secure a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Chris coming on board as an analyst could help the program become more solid on the defensive side of the ball. He possesses a lot of experience on the professional stage and this could be crucial to helping Ole Miss achieve its goals in the 2024 season.