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 occurred in a small room subsequent to the runway.
Both method, the reminiscence has been burned in Kiffin’s coronary heart and thoughts, serving to encourage 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 report, the fourth 12 months within the final 5 the Rebels have gained not less than 10 video games. He seemingly shed the fame 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 sport 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 assist for Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin through the second half of a sport 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 have been flown on personal 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 nicely conscious of Kiffin’s impending determination and clearly need to know the reply forward of the Rebels’ regular-season finale Nov. 28 towards Mississippi State. Kiffin, nonetheless, denied rumors that Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter had given him an ultimatum to determine earlier than then.
“Yeah, that’s absolutely not true,” Kiffin advised “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN on Tuesday. “There has been no ultimatum, anything like that at all. And so I don’t know where that came from, like a lot of stuff that comes out there. Like I said, man, we’re having a blast. I love it here.”
In equity to Kiffin, the urgency to determine now relatively than at season’s finish is a operate of immediately’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 might be Dec. 19 and 20. The quarterfinals are on New Yr’s Eve and New Yr’s Day. Florida and LSU can’t wait that lengthy to rent a coach.
What ought to he do? Most seasoned pundits consider he mustn’t budge.
“Kiffin should stay and see the season out; attempt to win, try to reach the Final Four or beyond, make the memories, and forge the deep bonds that coaching is supposed 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 huge 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 inclined to dig in for years. Who is aware of when the same alternative will current itself?
Kiffin’s quandary is comprehensible. Previous Miss directors, nonetheless, vividly recall 2022 when Kiffin was courted by Auburn and allowed the difficulty to linger and sabotage a doubtlessly nice season. The Rebels have been 8-1 when the rumors started after which misplaced 4 in a row.
No one at Ole Miss desires one other collapse as a result of Kiffin — once more — had a wandering eye. His determination is tough, and gained’t wait.
