(BCSNN | UPI) -  Lane Kiffin’s departure from Ole Miss for LSU sent shockwaves through the SEC, but let’s be clear: this isn’t a tragedy for the program, the conference, or even Kiffin himself. It’s the same story that plays out across college football every year. The only real victims are the fans.

Kiffin framed his exit as a “new chapter,” citing mentors like Pete Carroll and Nick Saban who told him to “take the shot.” He leaves Oxford after six seasons, four double-digit-win campaigns, and the best regular season in school history. Ole Miss is playoff-bound, but their coach is already gone.

The SEC, meanwhile, shrugs. This is a league where scandals and sudden exits are part of the brand. Kiffin walking out on a playoff team is unprecedented, but it fits the pattern: coaches chase bigger paychecks, bigger stages, and bigger egos. The timing may be bad for the product, but the machine keeps rolling.

And if Ole Miss fans feel betrayed, they should know they’re not alone. What happened in Oxford is what Group of 6 schools have endured for years. Just ask Memphis, Tulane, USF, or North Texas — all four lost their head coaches to SEC or Power 4 jobs in the span of six days this fall. Jon Sumrall, Ryan Silverfield, Alex Golesh, and Eric Morris were all poached, leaving behind programs they had elevated.

This is the cycle: build success, get noticed, get hired away. The SEC doesn’t just raid its rivals; it raids the G6 relentlessly, stripping away the coaches who make those programs competitive. Ole Miss got a taste of what it feels like to be on the other side of that equation.

Kiffin’s legacy in Oxford is complicated. He delivered wins, relevance, and hope. He also delivered drama, narcissism, and ultimately, abandonment. But that’s college football. Coaches are mercenaries, conferences are profiteers, and universities are complicit.

The only ones left to absorb the pain are the fans — the ones who believed the promises, raised the money, and bought into the vision. They’re the ones who wake up to find their coach gone, their trust broken, and their passion exploited.

No one is going to shed a tear for poor little Ole Miss. Because in the end, Lane Kiffin’s exit isn’t a scandal. It isn't a shocker, or something people should even be surprised by. It’s just another reminder of the sport’s brutal truth: in college football, the only real victims are the fans that invest their time, money, and emotions.