Ole Miss football fans – and Florida And LSU fans will have to wait another eight days to find out where Lane Kiffin will coach after this season.
Ole Miss Vice Chancellor of Intercollegiate Athletics Keith Carter said Friday that an announcement about Kiffin's future will be made the day after the No. 6 Rebels play an opponent. Mississippi at the Egg Bowl in Starkville on November 28th.
Kiffin, who is in his sixth season at Ole Miss, is reportedly considering job offers at SEC rivals Florida and LSU.
Sources told ESPN that the Rebels have offered Kiffin a long contract extension with a salary comparable to what the Tigers and Gators are offering him.
On Friday, Kiffin met with Carter and Ole Miss Chancellor Glenn Boyce.
“Coach Kiffin and I have had many specific and positive conversations about his future at Ole Miss, including meeting with Chancellor Boyce today,” Carter said. “As we discuss next steps, we know we can't lose sight of what's most important – our sixth-ranked team that is poised to finish the regular season in historic fashion.”
Kiffin, 50, has led the Rebels to at least 10 wins in four of the last five seasons. He has a 54-19 record at Ole Miss.
On Sunday, Kiffin's ex-wife, Leila; his son Knox; and Kiffin's brother's son Chris visited Gainesville, Florida. The next day, Layla and other family members visited the LSU campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
With a 10-1 record this season, the Rebels have an opportunity to make their first CFP appearance and potentially host a first-round game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Dec. 19 or 20.
“Despite the outside noise, Coach Kiffin is focused on preparing our team for the Egg Bowl, and together we want to ensure that our players and coaches can focus fully on the game next Friday,” Carter said. “This team is on the cusp of an unprecedented season, and it is imperative that they feel supported by the Ole Miss family in the coming week.”
Carter, a former Ole Miss basketball player who has led the athletics department since 2019, pressed Kiffin to clarify his future and wanted a decision made by the end of this week, sources close to the matter told ESPN earlier this week.
Ole Miss administrators didn't want the lingering uncertainty surrounding Kiffin's future to become too distracting before the Rebels played their biggest rivalry game. They also needed time to prepare for a possible move to an interim coach before the CFP and to find a replacement for Kiffin if he decides to leave.
The Rebels want to avoid a situation similar to the messy departure of former Ole Miss coach Tommy Tuberville. Auburn in 1998. While speculation about Tuberville's future was heating up, the Rebels lost their last three games, including a 28-6 loss to Mississippi State at home.
After the regular season ended, Tuberville said on his weekly radio show, “They're going to have to carry me out of here in a pine box.”
Two days later, Tuberville left for Auburn.
