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Twelve years in the past, coach Lane Kiffin was humiliated, fired by USC athletic director Pat Haden on an airport tarmac at 3 a.m. moments after the Trojans had flown in from Phoenix after getting crushed by Arizona State, 62-41.
OK, so perhaps it wasn’t the tarmac, perhaps that’s simply Trojan lore, perhaps the abrupt firing came about in a small room subsequent to the runway.
Both approach, the reminiscence has been burned in Kiffin’s coronary heart and thoughts, serving to inspire him to elevated success on the sector and seemingly heartfelt steadiness in his private life.
Now the tables have turned. Kiffin, 50, has led Ole Miss to a No. 5 nationwide rating and 10-1 document, the fourth yr within the final 5 the Rebels have received at the least 10 video games. He seemingly shed the status for aloofness and me-first perspective that dogged him as a failed NFL head coach at age 32 and as an Alabama assistant let go by Nick Saban days earlier than a nationwide title recreation for focusing an excessive amount of on his subsequent job.
But, right here we’re once more, Kiffin apparently considering the unthinkable. Would he actually abandon Ole Miss on the eve of the School Soccer Playoff for Florida or Louisiana State, fellow SEC faculties and established nationwide powers attempting to find head coaches?
A younger fan exhibits his help for Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin throughout the second half of a recreation towards Florida in Oxford, Miss., on Nov. 15, 2025.
(Rogelio V. Solis/Related Press)
Kiffin’s ex-wife Layla — they’re on pleasant phrases — and 17-year-old son Knox not too long ago had been flown on non-public jets to Gainesville, Fla., and Baton Rouge, La., presumably to take a look at the livability and vibes of the potential subsequent entry on Kiffin’s resume.
Ole Miss is effectively conscious of Kiffin’s impending determination and clearly wish to know the reply forward of the Rebels’ regular-season finale Nov. 28 towards Mississippi State. Kiffin, nevertheless, denied rumors that Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter had given him an ultimatum to determine earlier than then.
“Yeah, that’s completely not true,” Kiffin advised “The Pat McAfee Present” on ESPN on Tuesday. “There was no ultimatum, something like that in any respect. And so I don’t know the place that got here from, like lots of stuff that comes on the market. Like I mentioned, man, we’re having a blast. I find it irresistible right here.”
In equity to Kiffin, the urgency to determine now somewhat than at season’s finish is a perform of at present’s faculty soccer recruiting calendar and switch portal. The highschool signing interval begins Dec. 3 and the switch portal opens Jan. 2.
The primary spherical of the CFP will probably be Dec. 19 and 20. The quarterfinals are on New 12 months’s Eve and New 12 months’s Day. Florida and LSU can’t wait that lengthy to rent a coach.
What ought to he do? Most seasoned pundits imagine he mustn’t budge.
“Kiffin ought to keep and see the season out; try to win, attempt to attain the Last 4 or past, make the recollections, and forge the deep bonds that teaching is meant to be about,” longtime columnist Dan Wetzel wrote for ESPN.
Causes to leap to LSU or Florida are that each faculties are in talent-rich states with large fan bases and deep custom. The ceiling is increased and the stands fuller than in Oxford, Miss. Additionally, coaches at these established SEC powers are likely to dig in for years. Who is aware of when an identical alternative will current itself?
Kiffin’s quandary is comprehensible. Previous Miss directors, nevertheless, vividly recall 2022 when Kiffin was courted by Auburn and allowed the difficulty to linger and sabotage a doubtlessly nice season. The Rebels had been 8-1 when the rumors started after which misplaced 4 in a row.
No one at Ole Miss needs one other collapse as a result of Kiffin — once more — had a wandering eye. His determination is troublesome, and received’t wait.
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