Lane Kiffin Speaks Out on Steve Sarkisian and Kirby Smart

Lane Kiffin Speaks Out on Steve Sarkisian and Kirby Smart originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin’s ties to Steve Sarkisian and Kirby Smart run deep, tracing back to their shared days on national championship staffs. Kiffin and Sarkisian first worked together under Pete Carroll at USC in the early 2000s before reuniting in 2016 on Nick Saban’s Alabama staff.

Kirby Smart, meanwhile, cut his teeth as a position coach under Saban and then rose to defensive coordinator, overlapping with Kiffin’s stint as offensive coordinator. That blend of Trojan and Tide pedigree forged close friendships among the three.

When Texas officially joined the SEC last season, it set the stage for a marquee rivalry between Sarkisian’s Longhorns and Smart’s Bulldogs, a true East‑versus‑West clash.

On Monday at the SEC Media Days held at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Kiffin was asked to weigh in on this rivalry.

“I think those are the two premier programs and premier coaches in college football, so I think they both do an amazing job,” Kiffin said.

“Having both of them, being with both of them at Alabama and seeing how they've used that, and then being with Sarkisian at USC as well as how he's used Pete Carroll things and implemented there, I think they both do an amazing job".

Thanks for fitting us into your busy schedule, Coach...@Lane_Kiffinpic.twitter.com/SajrIOjW8G

— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) July 14, 2025

"In those SEC meetings, you're always listening to the coaches and their input. I feel like both these guys really run their program truly as a CEO and know everything that's going on," he continued

They're very creative in their ideas and how to navigate through this world we're in now, so I think they're both really good friends and really good people; phenomenal coaches.” Kiffin added.

Related: Lane Kiffin Breaks Silence on His Repeated Digs at Auburn’s Hugh Freeze

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 15, 2025, where it first appeared.