{"id":1883,"date":"2025-12-01T04:16:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T04:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/?p=1883"},"modified":"2025-12-01T10:00:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T10:00:20","slug":"marty-smith-takes-center-stage-in-kiffin-saga-with-ole-miss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/sports-media\/marty-smith-takes-center-stage-in-kiffin-saga-with-ole-miss\/","title":{"rendered":"Marty Smith Takes Center Stage In Kiffin Saga With Ole Miss"},"content":{"rendered":"

With college football’s regular season winding down this week, one of the biggest storylines was Lane Kiffin and the decision of leaving his current role as head coach at Ole Miss for the same position at LSU<\/a>.\u00a0 And the man that ended up in the eye of the turmoil turned out to be ESPN’s Marty Smith.<\/p>\n

Smith found himself assigned to be in Oxford on Saturday after covering the Rebels 38-19 win over rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl Friday in Starkville in the event that the announcement of Kiffin’s departure came down.\u00a0 That would lead to a marathom day that kept the ESPN reporter inside the athletic department’s offices until the wee hours of Sunday morning waiting for word.\u00a0 And even after a long day of “hurry up and wait” (as we called it in the military), Smith kept his sense of humor about the situation.<\/p>\n

When Dari Nowkhah of the SEC Network asked Smith on his last hit of the night if he had reached out to Kiffin to see if an announcement was coming during the night, Smith went to his phone for the answer.<\/p>\n

“I wrote [Kiffin] at 8:46 [p.m.] Central Time and said ‘Will there be a resolution tonight? Please God in Heaven tell me yes.'” Smith said, prompting a laugh from Nowkhah.\u00a0 “And he did not write me back on that one.”<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe overwhelming sentiment here is that his unwillingness to commit to Ole Miss is a glaring indicator of his desire to go. They feel like if he was staying, he would\u2019ve already said so.\u201d@MartySmithESPN<\/a> with the latest on Lane Kiffin: pic.twitter.com\/B2vMlKACV4<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 30, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n