It's Lane Kiffin. Of course this saga ended in drama

The Lane Kiffin sweepstakes was always going to conclude in dramatic fashion.

If you're surprised by the manner in which the 50-year-old head coach left Ole Miss to take the LSU job, you either haven't been watching college football long enough or are too big a believer in the power of hot yoga.

Kiffin has changed in many ways since he landed in Oxford, Mississippi, six years ago. He's very open about cutting out alcohol, changing his lifestyle, and becoming a daily practitioner of hot yoga. He's certainly not the same brash young coach who burned through stops with the Oakland Raiders, Tennessee, USC, Alabama, and Florida Atlantic, but he remains incapable of making a drama-free exit.

The episode, which features an 11-1 campaign by the Rebels - who are sitting on the cusp of the school's first playoff appearance - followed by Kiffin's drawn-out departure, would be the headline in most people's Wikipedia entry. For Kiffin, it's simply the latest absurd event on a resume full of them.

Kiffin held the college football world hostage for weeks before saying that he would declare his decision Saturday, only to delay the announcement because he wanted to have his cake and eat it too. He'd already chosen LSU but attempted to strong-arm Ole Miss into letting him continue coaching the Rebels through the College Football Playoff.

Imagine Ryan Day deciding to leave Ohio State for Penn State as the Buckeyes prepare for the Big Ten title game. Would Penn State let him continue to lead a rival program into the postseason? Absolutely not.

A number of talking heads on ESPN spent a large portion of Saturday cheerleading for Kiffin to be allowed that opportunity, one of them being Nick Saban - a particularly curious stance for the legendary coach to take considering his history with Kiffin at Alabama.

"We made the decision because it was in the best interest of our players, our program, and for Lane for him to assume his duties at Florida Atlantic," Saban told ESPN just days before the national championship in January 2017.

For those unfamiliar, Saban announced that Kiffin was out as the Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator ahead of the team playing for the CFP title. Kiffin had taken the Florida Atlantic job a couple weeks prior but was expected to remain with Alabama through the playoff and even coached in the semifinal. After Kiffin arrived late to multiple meetings and media availabilities, Saban decided the Tide would be better off without him.

Fiery exits are as synonymous with Kiffin as the visor he rocks on the sideline. Al Davis' decision to make the then-31-year-old USC offensive coordinator the youngest head coach in the NFL's modern era backfired, with the Raiders' owner eventually firing him in spectacular fashion in 2008. Davis made the change 20 games into Kiffin's tenure and then conducted a two-hour press conference to explain the move on a projector screen.

"I don't think it was any one thing," Davis said, according to ESPN. "It was a cumulative thing. I think the pattern just disturbed me."

Sound familiar, Ole Miss fans?

The next team to be intoxicated by Kiffin's potential was Tennessee, which made him the youngest active head coach in FBS months after his Raiders stint ended. He took big swings in recruiting, accused Florida's Urban Meyer of cheating, and generated some notable results on the field. The Volunteers faithful were fired up for the future.

Then, in an instant, he was gone - back to USC to take the head coaching job as Pete Carroll left for the NFL. Kiffin made the decision while attending the SEC head coaches meeting, and the Tennessee frontman flew back to Knoxville as news leaked out.

Things turned ugly after he announced the move in a brief press conference. Police escorted him back to his home. Vols fans went full scorned lover, burning mattresses and shirts in response and painting vulgar, anti-Kiffin messages around campus.

While those exits are memorable, Kiffin's departure from USC is the one that really launched him into all-time college football lore. He experienced some success with the Trojans, but a 7-6 campaign after being the preseason No. 1 team fell woefully short of expectations. That put him in the crosshairs entering the 2013 season, and a blowout loss at Arizona State that dropped the team to 3-2 set the stage for "The Tarmac Incident."

How finished with Kiffin was USC? So done that the administration couldn't even wait for the team to return to campus to rip the Band-Aid off. He was pulled off the team bus on the tarmac of the airport at 3 a.m. upon arrival from Tempe. Then he was led to a private room in the terminal, where he was dismissed while the bus departed.

Now, he finds himself at LSU, an institution that might actually rival Kiffin in terms of drama. One only has to rewind to October to find Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry getting heavily involved in the firings of coach Brian Kelly and athletic director Scott Woodward.

Landry pledged that the state school wouldn't end up on the hook for another massive buyout once it hired the new football coach. That idea lasted until he got word that Kiffin might be interested in the position.

Kiffin's new seven-year deal is worth $91 million. The buyout is 80% of his remaining salary at the time of firing, with no duty to mitigate by finding other employment. In other words: significantly more substantial than the $53 million with a duty-to-mitigate buyout for Kelly.

Kiffin will likely experience great success at LSU. His football coaching acumen is the reason he's been given so many chances despite the baggage attached. And considering the elite recruiting ground in Louisiana, there's a reason every LSU coach this century other than Kelly won a national title.

However, regardless of how well the Tigers may do under his watch, the smart money is on his tenure eventually ending in an explosive manner with all of college football watching.

After all, this is Lane Kiffin.