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Mark Schlabach
Ole Miss football fans — and Florida and LSU fans — will have to wait another eight days to learn where Lane Kiffin will coach beyond this season.
Ole Miss vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics Keith Carter said Friday that an announcement about Kiffin’s future will come the day after the No. 6 Rebels play rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl in Starkville on Nov. 28.
Kiffin, who is in his sixth season at Ole Miss, is reportedly considering job offers at SEC rivals Florida and LSU.
The Rebels had offered Kiffin a lengthy extension with a salary comparable to those the Tigers and Gators are offering him, sources told ESPN.
Kiffin met with Carter and Ole Miss chancellor Glenn Boyce on Friday.
“Coach Kiffin and I have had many pointed and positive conversations regarding his future at Ole Miss, including meeting today with Chancellor Boyce,” Carter said. “While we discuss next steps, we know we cannot lose sight of what is most important — our sixth-ranked team that is poised to finish the regular season in historic fashion.”
Kiffin, 50, has guided the Rebels to at least 10 victories in four of the past five seasons. He has a 54-19 record at Ole Miss.
On Sunday, Kiffin’s ex-wife, Layla; his son, Knox; and the son of Kiffin’s brother, Chris, visited Gainesville, Florida. Layla and other family members visited the LSU campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the next day.
With a 10-1 record this season, the Rebels are in position to make their first CFP appearance and possibly 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 concentrate fully on next Friday’s game,” Carter said. “This team is on the cusp of an unprecedented season, and it’s imperative they feel the support of the Ole Miss family in the week ahead.”
Carter, a former Ole Miss basketball player who has been in charge of the athletics department since 2019, pushed Kiffin for clarity about his future and wanted a decision 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 much of a distraction before the Rebels played their biggest rivalry game. They also wanted time to prepare for a possible transition to an interim coach before the CFP and a search for Kiffin’s replacement if he decides to leave.
The Rebels want to avoid a situation similar to former Ole Miss coach Tommy Tuberville’s ugly departure to Auburn in 1998. While speculation about Tuberville’s future heated up, the Rebels lost their last three games, including a 28-6 defeat against Mississippi State at home.
After the regular season ended, Tuberville said on his weekly radio show, “They’ll have to carry me out of here in a pine box.”
Tuberville left for Auburn two days later.
