Lane Kiffin nearly left for the Auburn Tigers in 2022 but ultimately stayed at Ole Miss after his daughter urged him not to go. Three years later, Kiffin continues to thrive with the Rebels.
Kiffin is not in the hot seat rumor due to his success with Ole Miss and the Rebels’ strong season this year. However, speculation about him possibly moving to another program, such as LSU, continues to be on the air.
Lane Kiffin Keeps Getting Linked With LSU Following Brian Kelly’s Firing
On Tuesday, Yahoo Sports’ Rs Dellenger reported that LSU’s new president, Wade Rousse, has decided to officially appoint Verge Ausberry as the school’s full-time athletic director.
Ausberry shares a friendship with former Alabama coach Nick Saban from his coaching days and often stays in touch with him. It may trigger some speculation about Saban’s potential link to LSU.
However, Ausberry made his stance clear regarding Saban’s candidacy for the Tigers’ head coach position. “That’s not going to happen,” Ausberry said. “If he were interested, I’d go drive and pick him up right now. That’s run its course.”
Saban is now working as an ESPN analyst and has already stated that he does not plan to return to coaching.
During a Baton Rouge radio appearance with sports insider Matt Moscona, Ausberry also mentioned that LSU is willing to wait for a coach who is involved in the College Football Playoff, and that the program would wait even if that means delaying the hire until January.
Following the Rebels’ 8-1 start, Ole Miss sits at No. 6 in the first College Football Playoff rankings and is projected to host a first-round playoff game. As per PFSN’s CFB Playoff Meter, the team’s current probability of making the playoffs is 92.82%.
A strong position such as this has immediately placed Lane Kiffin among the top candidates for the LSU job as a possible successor to Brian Kelly.
On3’s Josh Pate also shared the same notion on Tuesday regarding Kiffin’s potential fit with LSU.
“The Lane Kiffin name is out there,” Pate said. “The Lane Kiffin name, it’s funny because no decision is ready to be made. Doesn’t matter if he doesn’t want to come or if he does want to come; there’s just no decision to be had right now, and I’m going to tell you why. Because Lane Kiffin is in the middle of a playoff run right now.”
However, LSU could face a challenge, as Governor Jeff Landry has been outspoken about his involvement in LSU athletics. SEC analyst Paul Finebaum already cautioned that Kiffin might not be interested in working under such conditions.
“He made it if you’re Lane Kiffin or somebody else,” Finebaum said on “The Matt Barrie Show” earlier this week. “You’re going, ‘Do I want to deal with that?’ Of all the things that Governor Landry did, he did one thing that really mattered. He fired the athletic director (Scott Woodward) live. I’ve never seen that before.”
Meanwhile, other prominent coaching vacancies at schools like Florida and Penn State could also draw Kiffin’s attention.