Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin led the No. 7 Rebels to a comeback 34-24 win over the Florida Gators in Week 12 of college football action to breach the 10-win mark for the season. Kiffin has commandeered the coaching carousel headlines in college football after being linked to several top jobs.
The game against the Gators at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium was marked by chants of “We want Kiffin” from Ole Miss fans as the rumor mill about the coach’s future continued to spin.
Analyst Reveals Delay in Lane Kiffin’s Contract Situation
During this week’s segment of the “Colin Cowherd” podcast, analyst Colin Cowherd broke down the reasons why Kiffin might be hesitant to sign a contract extension at Ole Miss and put all the speculation about his future in Oxford to bed.
“There is so much parity right now in college football,” Cowherd said. “I like Georgia a lot, but they have Texas’ number, but Alabama has Georgia’s number. Ole Miss, if it were such a great job, Lane Kiffin would have already signed that extension. Him not signing it is probably a sign that he knows that there are limitations at Ole Miss.
“Everybody was afraid that the portal and NIL were going to bury the Iowas. Now we have Indiana and A&M and Ole Miss have emerged. I think Ohio State’s the best team, but there’s 12 teams here. I’m not sure who’s the second-best team in the country.”
Kiffin’s contract was automatically extended by one year through 2031, following the Rebels’ victory over the Oklahoma Sooners on Oct. 25, for their seventh win of the season. His contract will be worth up to $9 million annually, with $7.2 million guaranteed.
Finebaum Weighs In on Kiffin’s Contract Hesitation
During Monday’s segment of McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum weighed in on the reason for Kiffin’s hesitation to put the Florida Gators speculation to bed.
“The only thing that would prevent Lane from taking [the Florida job opening] would be just the situation where it would be too complicated, depending on the playoff situation,” Finebaum said. “Again, what Kiffin said after the game is somewhat irrelevant. He knows he could have put an end to [the speculation].
“It’s pretty obvious he doesn’t want to put an end to it. So, I mean, I think, at this point, conventional wisdom would be, as long as he doesn’t blow up the entire place in departing, he’s going to probably take that job.”
Kiffin has a 54-19 record in his six-year tenure at Ole Miss, including three consecutive 10-win seasons. The charismatic coach’s longest tenure in charge of a program was at the helm of the USC Trojans between 2010 and 2013.
