Lane Kiffin posts a 3-word message for old pal Steve Sarkisian as Texas takes on Ohio State

The Texas Longhorns are facing the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Cotton Bowl. This game doubles up as a College Football Playoff semi-final, where the winner will face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the National Championship Game.

Before the game, current Ole Miss Rebels coach Lane Kiffin gave Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian a message on social media, which read:

"🤘 Good Luck Buddy @CoachSark"

Kiffin and Sarkisian have a relationship that goes back at least 10 years. Before they were the head coaches of their respective programs, they were both working under Nick Saban at the Alabama Crimson Tide. Kiffin brought Sarkisian on to the program as an offensive analyst.

This would be Sarkisian's first role in college football after his departure as the USC Trojans coach due to his personal issues with alcohol. Coincidently, the coach who Sarkisian replaced at USC was Lane Kiffin.

The pair would work together for a few years before Kiffin would leave the team to take the head coaching role at Florida Atlantic. His replacement as offensive coordinator at Alabama? Steve Sarkisian.

During SEC Media Day last August, Sarkisian spoke about his relationship and history with Lane Kiffin.

"We do. We worked together. We fought together. We fought against each other. We’ve coached against one another. And when I went to Alabama as the analyst, he was the offensive coordinator. It’s just a lot of this. And Lane’s done a great job at Ole Miss. I can’t give him enough credit," Sark said of Kiffin.

Sarkisian's praise of Kiffin shows the good-natured relationship the two have in public.

Steve Sarkisian on Lane Kiffin's CFP comments

As well as wishing his friend Steve Sarkisian good luck in the Cotton Bowl, Lane Kiffin has spent a lot of time on social media complaining about the quality of the games in the CFP this year. Some of these complaints may be motivated by Ole Miss not making it in.

Sarkisian responded to these comments earlier in the playoffs where he said the following:

"We got a lot of teams complaining that they didn't get into the College Football Playoff, but they stubbed their toe at some point along the way as well."

Ole Miss had an end-of-season collapse which took them out of the playoff contention. Texas only seemed to get better throughout and made the SEC Championship game in their first attempt. They have gone on a run to make the semifinals and are now one win away from making the national championship game.