When Lane Kiffin’s plane left Oxford for Baton Rouge, he wanted Charlie Weis Jr. on it.
Things boiled over at Ole Miss, and Weis Jr. decided to make the jump to LSU. Then he went back to Oxford to coach the team in the College Football Playoff while simultaneously recruiting for LSU during the high school and portal periods.
At one point, Weis Jr. considered bailing on Kiffin and LSU to remain at Ole Miss under Pete Golding’s staff, but LSU bumped his pay by half a million dollars and got him to Baton Rouge full time.
Weis’s development as an offensive coordinator has allowed Kiffin to evolve as a head coach.
“Charlie, his progression to where he’s at now from when we first got him has been amazing,” Kiffin said. “He’s been awesome to watch. It frees me up so much. I spent 30 minutes this morning on a call…potential transfer compliance type thing which I couldn’t have done because there was an offensive meeting going on. And now, I can go do that because it’s an immediate thing that might be happening that I’m dealing with knowing that everything’s done the exact right way. So, the Charlie benefit is huge for our program.”
And the offenses have hummed.
Last season Ole Miss torched Georgia defense twice, led the SEC in total offense and rushing touchdowns and averaged nearly 37 points per game. In 2024, Ole Miss led the SEC in scoring and passing.
Kiffin attributes the success to numerous things, but one of them is the interaction Weis has with the quarterbacks using in-helmet communication that came into college football in 2024.
“I think that speaks a lot to Charlie and his ability to communicate to the quarterback and then the relationship developed in that and how that all works,” Kiffin said.
The helmets turn off with 15 seconds on the 40 second play clock. That gives coaches 25 seconds to communicate. Because of Kiffin and Weis’s tempo, the offense and defense are generally set well before the 15 second mark meaning Weis can talk to the quarterback after the 22 players are lined. That’s a prime coaching opportunity not every team gets.
“It’s not just it’s easy to just give a play,” Kiffin said. “I shouldn’t say, some people do that. Ours is a lot more in depth of what we do and how we work it and where the 15 cuts off and our ability to get things done fast and in fast. So, we can still talk to them all the way up to that point.”
Like Blake Baker on the defensive side, Weis Jr. is a hot name in college football. They’re both young, Baker 44 and Weis Jr. 33. Both will have their chances at head coaching opportunities should their unit perform at the level they have in previous seasons.
Kiffin understands that and plans to max out their time in Baton Rouge however long that may be.
“I think that speaks a lot obviously to Charlie,” Kiffin said. “Doing that in the SEC. You know, there’s a lot of easier conferences defensive-wise definitely to do that in. So again, that’s why he was so sought after. He’s been so sought after for a couple years around the country and why he makes what he makes.”
