Charlie Weis Jr., Kevin Smith expected to coach for Ole Miss in Fiesta Bowl

Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. was the only assistant who went with Lane Kiffin to LSU who was back on campus Saturday morning at Ole Miss as the Rebels began preparations for their Fiesta Bowl matchup with Miami in the College Football Playoff semifinals, sources told On3.

The Rebels had practice and meetings with the players Saturday morning, which equated to a normal Monday game week practice with the Fiesta Bowl being played on Thursday night. The team will fly to Phoenix on Tuesday.

However, Kevin Smith told On3 later Saturday that he, too, was committed to staying on in his role as Ole Miss’ running backs coach throughout the playoff.

“I’m going to finish the job! And do my job here (at LSU)!” Smith said via a text.

Ole Miss coach Pete Golding said during a Fiesta Bowl teleconference Saturday that it was LSU’s call on whether all of the assistants would be allowed to come back and continue coaching their former team throughout the playoff.

“I don’t know. Do you know if you’re going to show up at work tomorrow? I mean, we don’t know,” Golding said. “It’s grown people making decisions, so I have no idea. We’re going to go out there and spot the ball. We’ve got plenty enough people in this building who showed up this morning. We’ll be just fine.”

In addition to Weis and Smith, tight ends coach/co-offensive coordinator Joe Cox and receivers coach/passing game coordinator George McDonald were the on-field offensive assistants who signed contracts to join Kiffin at LSU. They were all in New Orleans with Ole Miss’ team to coach in the Sugar Bowl.

Weis was adamant after the Sugar Bowl that he planned to stay on as offensive coordinator as long as the Rebels remained in the playoff, and several of the Ole Miss offensive players praised his commitment to the team in what was a tough situation for him. Multiple Ole Miss sources after the game expressed doubt that all of the assistants would be back to coach the Rebels the rest of way, especially with the transfer portal opening this past Friday, but emphasized there was already a plan in place if that happened.

“Hell, they work for LSU now,” one source said.

Golding said Saturday that his current staff is “filled with elite coaches” and are “actually the ones instructing and teaching players.”

Golding, who calls plays for the Ole Miss defense, noted that this isn’t the first time coaches have had to juggle two jobs in the postseason after taking another one.

“They try to make both work. If they can’t, they can’t,” Golding said. “That would not be any reason for success or lack of success with this game. The play-callers haven’t changed.”

Kiffin told On3 after the Sugar Bowl that he’s clearly communicated with Ole Miss about the matter and that there should be no “mixed messages.”