After a roller coaster past few weeks, from false reports to subtle hints, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin will leave Oxford this off-season.
Kiffin had been rumored to be Auburn’s top target to fill their head coaching position since they fired Bryan Harsin in October.
The Rebels haven’t won a game since Oct. 29 at Texas A&M and three-straight losses to close out their regular season to Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi State may have hinted that the team seemed checked out or distracted with Kiffin’s name tied to Auburn.
Despite all the speculation, Kiffin had repeatedly stated that he planned to stay with the Rebels next season.
After Ole Miss’ loss to Mississippi State, Kiffin was asked if he anticipated being Ole Miss’ head coach next season and his response to the question was, “Yes, I do.”
On Monday Nov. 21, Jon Sokoloff, WCBI (Columbus-Tupelo) sports director, tweeted that Kiffin “plans to step down as the Rebels coach Friday and head to Auburn to become the Tigers next head coach, according to sources.”
Kiffin didn’t take too kindly to the tweet and immediately shut it down, quoting Sokoloff’s tweet and saying, “That’s news to me Jon. Nice sources.”
After the game Saturday, Kiffen commented on the questionable reporting: “I think when it was falsely reported by Jon who’s now famous, congratulations, you can just write whatever you want. I would do it too, I think, because you’re never held accountable, and you get to become famous and maybe you’ll be right.”
Kiffin went on to say, “Jon did it, so then I had to have a team meeting to say his article was wrong.”
Those rumors can now officially be put to rest.
On Saturday, Kiffin told ESPN that he plans on returning to Ole Miss next season and signing a contract extension with the team.
“I had a meeting with the team and the staff and told them I was staying, and it would be announced after the game,” Kiffin told ESPN on Saturday about not wanting the focus to be about him during the Egg Bowl. “I didn’t want it to be about me staying before the game, but about the team.”
It’s safe to assume that it has been an exhausting week for Ole Miss fans keeping up with the Kiffin rumors, from some thinking Kiffin might’ve walked his last “Walk of Champions” to others looking at possible candidates to fill Kiffin’s shoes..
When asked by Outkick about his reason for staying with the Rebels, Kiffin stated, “This had absolutely nothing to do with money.”
His children may have played a role in his decision to stay in Oxford. Kiffin’s daughter moved to Oxford this year from California. She is a senior at Oxford High School and has loved living in Oxford, Kiffin told Outkick.
Ole Miss and Kiffin discussed a possible contract extension, and according to Ross Dellinger of Sports Illustrated the new contract is expected to be for at least eight years with Kiffin earning around $9 million per year, a jump from the $7.25 million he is making this year.
Although the state of Mississippi doesn’t allow public employees to have contracts for more than four years, the deal will be passed through Ole Miss’ private foundation.
In his three seasons at Ole Miss, Kiffin has a 23-12 record including a 1-1 record in bowl games. He also achieved a 10-win regular season in 2021, the first in Ole Miss program history.
The Rebels await their bowl game matchup, which will be revealed on Dec. 4.
