When then-Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin boarded the plane for Baton Rouge as LSU’s new head coach, he did so with offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. on board. 

He wasn’t alone either; several assistants joined Kiffin on the plane to Baton Rouge, intending to join his staff at LSU before returning to Oxford to finish out the Rebels' run in the College Football Playoff. 

Yet, heading to Baton Rouge in tow with Kiffin wasn’t the only option that Weis had on the table. The son of former pro and college football coach Charlie Weis had options beyond just college football. He could have remained at Ole Miss under new coach and then-defensive coordinator Pete Golding, or, as reported by On3’s Wilson Alexander, head off to the NFL. 

Plenty of Options 

"Number one, Coach Kiffin," Weis said of why he followed Kiffin to LSU back in August. "He believed in me at a very early age, and probably a lot of people wouldn't take a chance on a young coach. And he did, and so I do feel I owe a lot to him for my career and the places he's hired me. So I think that's definitely the number one factor."

Having options shouldn’t come as a surprise. In just four seasons working under Kiffin, Weis Jr. went from one of the youngest coordinators in the sport to being the play-caller for one of the nation’s most consistent offenses. 

But the relationship between Weis and Kiffin goes back further than just when the former was hired in 2022 as the offensive coordinator in Oxford. The two coaches’ sons first worked together in Tuscaloosa, where Weis joined the 2015 Alabama staff as an offensive analyst while Kiffin called the offense for Nick Saban. 

After two seasons together at Alabama, Weis followed Kiffin to Florida Atlantic as his offensive coordinator. That was despite being only 24 years old. 

The pair spent two more seasons together before parting ways when Kiffin was hired at Ole Miss, and Weis went to South Florida as offensive coordinator under then-head coach Jeff Scott. 

After current Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby left the Rebels for the same position at Oklahoma, Weis and Kiffin reunited. 

The pair put together some of the SEC’s best offenses, with their last two (2024 and 2025) both finishing top-10 in total offense and scoring offense nationally; Kiffin, the offensive mastermind, functioned more as a CEO head coach, while Weis, the young up-and-comer, was the play-caller.

Now, the two will return to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium together for the first time since boarding that plane to Baton Rouge.

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