LSU coach Lane Kiffin earns $500K bonus off Ole Miss win over Georgia
by Alex Butler · UPIJan. 2 (UPI) -- Ex-Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is still reaping benefits from the Rebels' stellar season, including a $500,000 bonus off their Sugar Bowl victory.
Kiffin, who left the Rebels in December to become head football coach at LSU, had bonuses of $250,000 for each College Football Playoff victory included in his former contract.
Those sums will now be paid to him by the Tigers, according to a term sheet from LSU. He previously earned a $250,000 bonus for the Rebels' win over Tulane in the first round of the tournament.
With another victory over the Miami Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl -- a College Football Playoff semifinal -- Kiffin's bonus total from the tournament would rise to $750,000. He could receive a total of $1 million if the Rebels advance to the national title game and beat the Indiana Hoosiers or Oregon Ducks, the other College Football Playoff semifinalists.
Kiffin signed a seven-year, $91 million contract with the Tigers and is set to receive about $13 million annually. He earned $9 million annually with the Rebels. His new pact will keep him under contract through 2032.
Kiffin will receive $1.5 million if he leads the Tigers to a College Football Playoff semifinal. He could push his total to $2 million by leading them to the national final and $3 million for winning a title. His pact with the Tigers features bonuses of $750,000 for reaching the first round of the tournament and $1 million for advancing to the quarterfinals.
The Tigers also agreed to pay Kiffin the difference between the initial purchase price and sale price of his residence in Oxford, Miss., where he lived as coach of the Rebels. Kiffin's contract includes a $7 million buyout in 2026. The buyout decreases to $6 million in 2027, $5 million in 2028, $3 million in 2029, $2 million in 2030 and $1.5 million in 2031.
Kiffin attended the Tigers women's basketball team's 80-78 loss to Kentucky on Thursday in Baton Rouge, La., about 80 miles from the Caesars Superdome, where the Rebels upset the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl on Thursday in New Orleans.
"What a great finish," he wrote Thursday on X, in reference to the Rebels' victory. "So much fun! Only two more to go Ole Miss."
Several Rebels players cited Kiffin before and after their win over the Bulldogs.
"A lot of people did doubt us before the season and they still doubted us when our coach left," Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss told reporters Thursday in New Orleans.
"So we just want to play ball and have fun. I think that's showing right now."
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, who agreed to an eight-year $92.8 million extension with the Hoosiers in October, triggered a $700,000 bonus with a win over the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl -- another quarterfinal -- Thursday in Pasadena, Calif.
He could increase his bonus to $1 million with a win over the Oregon Ducks in the semifinals. Cignetti would earn a total of $2 million if the Hoosiers win the title.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning triggered a $250,000 bonus for leading the Ducks to a win over Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl, another College Football Playoff quarterfinal.
Bonus details for Miami Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal's, 10-year, $80 million contract are not available because Miami is a private institution.
Cristobal's old contract with Oregon included a $500,000 bonus for winning the national championship. He could earn $300,000, $325,000 or $375,000, respectively, for participation in any CFP bowl, the semifinal or national title game, as part of that six-year, $27.3 million agreement.
Sugar Bowl: Ole Miss Rebels defeat Georgia Bulldogs
Ole Miss quarterback and offensive MVP Trinidad Chambliss (L) and running back Kewan Lacy raise the trophy after the Rebels defeat the Georgia Bulldogs 39-34 in the Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on January 1, 2026. Ole Miss advances to play Miami in the Fiesta Bowl on January 8. Photo by A.J. Sisco/UPI | License Photo