Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. to coach Rebels in playoff after following Lane Kiffin to LSU

Though Lane Kiffin is heading to LSU and won’t coach Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff, there’s one prominent Rebels assistant who is staying put through the postseason.

Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. followed Kiffin to Baton Rouge on Sunday and will be a part of his staff in 2026. And Weis was announced as part of Ole Miss’ postseason staff on Tuesday, as the Rebels will retain their offensive coordinator for the rest of the season. Defensive coordinator Pete Golding was immediately announced as the team's head coach following Kiffin's departure.

Weis Jr., 32, has been Ole Miss’ offensive coordinator since the start of the 2022 season. He was hired by Kiffin after a two-year stint at South Florida and the two worked together when Kiffin was the head coach at Florida Atlantic.

Weis Jr., the son of longtime NFL assistant and former Notre Dame and Kansas coach Charlie Weis, reportedly signed a three-year deal at LSU worth $6 million to be the Tigers’ new offensive coordinator.

Keeping Weis around for the CFP may help the Rebels in the eyes of the playoff committee on Tuesday evening as the team's offensive philosophy shouldn't look much different. The CFP selection committee can consider the absence of a coach when determining a team’s ranking and Ole Miss was No. 7 in last week’s CFP rankings and Kiffin's statement about Weis staying in Oxford for the postseason directly addressed the factors the committee can consider.

“With the playoff committee releasing updated rankings [Tuesday night], 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. "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.”

If the 11-1 Rebels are seeded anywhere between No. 5 and No. 8 they will host a first-round game. If the committee drops them to No. 9 or below because of Kiffin’s absence, they’ll go on the road in the first round. It’s highly unlikely that Kiffin’s departure will drop Ole Miss out of the playoff entirely.

There are just eight power conference teams with one loss and the only one of those eight outside the top seven of last week’s rankings was No. 11 BYU. The 11-1 Cougars will make the CFP with a win over No. 5 Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game.