Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin are trading significant blows in a coaching tug of war

If the Magnolia Bowl wasn't already heated with the battles Ole Miss and LSU have had the past few seasons on the field, this offseason may have taken it to a crazy level. When LSU fired Brian Kelly, Lane Kiffin became their top target, and the Tigers won out, landing the Rebels' head coach right before the College Football Playoff.

Ole Miss made it clear to Lane Kiffin that if he left, he wouldn't be able to coach the team in the Playoff. When that became clear, Lane Kiffin went out and tore apart Ole Miss' coaching staff, bringing in most of the Rebels' offensive staff.

While the hirings damaged Ole Miss, the Rebels have started to strike back starting with the fact that they're allowing every coach who left to coach the team in the Playoff while not allowing Lane Kiffin that same courtesy.

Ole Miss' latest hire starts a massive battle with LSU

When Lane Kiffin took the LSU job, it became clear that General Manager Austin Thomas wouldn't stick after leaving Kiffin for LSU and he ended up back in Oxford as the General Manager. The other point of contention for Lane Kiffin has been interim head coach Frank Wilson.

Frank Wilson has been known as an ace recruiter for the Tigers, but Lane Kiffin's bringing in most of his offensive staff left Wilson's future in limbo. When a call from Lane Kiffin was leaked, talking about how running backs coach Kevin Smith and star running back Kewan Lacy were coming with Kiffin rumors started to run rampant.

Pete Golding knows what he's facing with Lane Kiffin trying to steal his star running back and the Rebels running backs coach. On Tuesday Night, Ole Miss made the first move, taking Frank Wilson away from LSU, giving the Rebels an elite recruiter.

The move will certainly disappoint most LSU fans, as the Tigers wanted to see Frank Wilson retained. There's a reason that Wilson was the pick to serve as interim head coach, as he's recruited most of the roster to LSU and has deep ties in Louisiana, which will help the Rebels on the recruiting trail.

While LSU loses their ace recruiter, Lane Kiffin now appears to be getting exactly what he wanted in this situation. As Ole Miss has a new running backs coach, Lane Kiffin appears to have a clear path to bring Kevin Smith to Baton Rouge.

The next few weeks between Ole Miss and LSU are going to be fascinating especially with the Transfer Portal opening up at the start of January. Everyone is expecting Lane Kiffin to make a big push for several of his former players making it interesting to follow what unfolds next.