The closely watched drama in the college football world finally reached its conclusion. Lane Kiffin, the head coach at Ole Miss for the past six years, boarded a flight for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Sunday.

Kiffin was formally introduced as LSU’s next head coach Monday. Ole Miss quickly responded to Kiffin’s exit by elevating Pete Golding from defensive coordinator to head coach. 

While Kiffin’s exit sparked considerable backlash, former ESPN host and current sports commentator and podcaster Bomani Jones turned his focus to the coach’s handpicked successor.

Jones lambasted Golding’s performance during his stint as Ole Miss’ defensive coordinator. He also floated a theory about Golding’s appearance.

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“I had known him by name. I saw a picture of him and was like ‘There’s no way that man is a head coach,’” Jones said.

Golding has coached for nearly two decades, but this will be his first opportunity to lead a football program that competes in a Power Four conference.

Kiffin coached the Rebels to victory over Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl rivalry game Friday to secure an 11-1 record for Ole Miss. While Ole Miss did not qualify for this week’s SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, the seventh-ranked Rebels are in position to advance to the College Football Playoff.

Whatever game Ole Miss ends up playing later this month will be Golding’s first opportunity as the Rebels’ head coach. After reportedly meeting with Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter and school chancellor Glenn Boyce, Kiffin learned his time coaching the Rebels had come to an end.

“I was hoping to complete a historic six-season run with this year’s team by leading Ole Miss through the playoffs, capitalizing on the team’s incredible success and their commitment to finish strong and investing everything into a playoff run with guardrails in place to protect the program in any areas of concern,” Kiffin said in a statement. 

LSU parted ways with Brian Kelly in late October, shortly after the Tigers dropped a home game to Texas A&M.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Buffalo Bills 26-7 on Sunday, and a restless Steelers crowd was letting the home team hear it. 

Fans booed and even called for head coach Mike Tomlin’s job, but the 53-year-old veteran head coach had a surprising answer when asked about his perspective on the crowd’s frustrations and the calls for his firing.

“In general, I agree with them, from this perspective: Football is our game, we’re in a sport-entertainment business,” Tomlin said Tuesday during a press conference. “And so, if you root for the Steelers, entertaining them is winning. And so when you’re not winning, it’s not entertaining.”

“If you’ve been in this business, you understand that, and so I respect it. I share frustrations, I understand what makes this thing go, and winning is what makes this thing go.”

The Steelers and Baltimore Ravens are both atop the AFC North at 6-6, but neither has looked like a first-place team. The Steelers have lost five of their last seven games as their once-seemingly big lead in the division has vanished.

The Steelers had a chance to run away with the division after a 4-1 start. The Ravens were 1-5 and the Cincinnati Bengals were struggling to find their footing after losing Joe Burrow, but now the Steelers’ path to the playoffs looks murkier than ever. 

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They did take a 7-3 lead into halftime over the Bills, but things quickly unraveled in the second half. On the first play from scrimmage, Bills edge rusher Joey Bosa crushed an unsuspecting Aaron Rodgers to force a fumble, which was recovered for a touchdown. 

The Bills never looked back, and the Steelers’ offense never got anything going. 

With the Steelers’ recent struggles, the fans’ intensity in their jeers has only grown, and Tomlin agreed with the fans. 

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Tomlin is the NFL’s longest-tenured head coach, as he has held the position since 2007. In 304 games, Tomlin has a 189-113-2 record. 

The Steelers will look to give their fans something to cheer about when they take on the Ravens in a pivotal matchup on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

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Tennis great Serena Williams took to X on Tuesday to insist that she is not planning a return to the court, hours after news broke that she has re-entered the sport’s drug-testing pool.

“Omg yall I’m NOT coming back,” the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion wrote. “This wildfire is crazy-”

Williams played her last match on Sept. 2, 2002, a loss to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the U.S. Open. The next day, Williams registered as retired with the International Tennis Integrity Agency, which oversees anti-doping and anti-corruption efforts in the sport, meaning she was no longer subject to regular drug testing.

An ITIA spokesperson confirmed to The Times on Tuesday that Williams is back in the agency’s drug-testing pool. Retired players “may not return to sanctioned events unless they have made themselves available for out-of-competition testing for at least six months prior to the event in question,” according to the ITIA website.

That is why talk of a potential Williams comeback was spreading like “wildfire” before the 44-year-old attempted to extinguish the flames on X. The mother of two did not explain why she is back in the testing pool. A representative for Williams did not immediately reply to a request for comment from The Times.

Williams famously avoided the word “retirement” when she announced her plan to step away from tennis in an August 2022 column in Vogue.

“Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution,” she said. “I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.”

Older sister Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, returned to the court earlier this year after a lengthy hiatus. During her run to the U.S. Open women’s doubles quarterfinals with partner Leylah Fernandez, Venus Williams mentioned that her sister was “coaching from afar.”