Former ESPN star blasts Ole Miss after Pete Golding revealed as Lane Kiffin’s chosen successor

The closely watched drama in the college football world eventually reached its conclusion Lane Kiffin the head coach at Ole Miss for the past six years boarded a flight for Baton Rouge Louisiana this past Sunday Kiffin was formally introduced as LSU's next head coach on Monday Ole Miss rapidly responded to Kiffin's exit by elevating Pete Golding from his defensive coordinator post to the position of head coach While Kiffin s exit sparked considerable backlash former ESPN host and current sports commentator and podcaster Bomani Jones turned his focus to the coach s handpicked successor CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COMJones lambasted Golding's performance during his stint as Ole Miss' defensive coordinator He also floated a theory about Golding's appearance COACH WHO LEFT OLE MISS TO JOIN LANE KIFFIN AT LSU WILL FINISH SEASON WITH REBELS I had known him by name I saw a picture of him and was like There s no way that man is a head coach ' Jones disclosed Golding has coached for nearly two decades but this will be his first opportunity to lead a football project that competes in a Power Four conference Kiffin coached the Rebels to triumph over Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl rivalry event last Friday to secure an - record for Ole Miss While Ole Miss did not qualify for this week's SEC Championship Tournament in Atlanta the seventh-ranked Rebels are in position to likely advance to the College Football Playoff Whatever competition Ole Miss ends up playing later this month will be Golding's first opportunity as the Rebels' head coach After reportedly meeting with Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter and school chancellor Glenn Boyce Kiffin learned his time coaching the Rebels had come to an end I was hoping to complete a historic six-season run with this year's organization by leading Ole Miss through the playoffs capitalizing on the team's incredible success and their commitment to finish strong and investing everything into a playoff run with guardrails in place to protect the undertaking in any areas of concern Kiffin stated in a comment LSU parted options with Brian Kelly in late October shortly after the Tigers dropped a home championship to Texas A M Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter