Lane Kiffin named candidate for coach of the year

Kiffin was added to the list of coaches in the running for the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award.

While the Ole Miss community is still reeling from the Rebels’ first loss of the season, there has been a glimmer of good news: Head coach Lane Kiffin has been named to the watchlist for the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year award, sponsored by the American Heart Association.

There are currently 28 coaches on the watchlist. The SEC’s nine candidates on the list marks the highest representation from one conference. The next closest conference is the Big Ten with six candidates. Nick Saban was the last SEC coach to win the award in 2020.

Lane Kiffin stands on the field during a game against Georgia in Sanford Stadium on Oct. 18. Photo by Antonella Rescigno

With Ole Miss’s loss to Georgia on Oct. 18, Kiffin’s road to winning the award becomes a bit more difficult. The last coach to win the award whose team did not win its conference was TCU’s Sonny Dykes in 2022-23, when the Horned Frogs lost the Big 12 Championship Game 31-28 against Kansas State. However, the Horned Frogs still advanced to the National Championship.

The award is honors “contributions that make the sport better for athletes and fans alike by demonstrating grit, integrity and a winning approach to coaching and life – both on and off the field,” according to the awards group.

Following the win against Washington State on Oct. 11, Kiffin became the fastest head coach in Ole Miss history to reach 50 wins. He beat the previous record-holder, Johnny Vaught, by six games. Kiffin also ranks second in Ole Miss history with a .735 winning percentage behind Vaught’s .745.

Kiffin was the first coach to achieve back-to-back 10-win seasons in (2023-24 and 2024-25) since Vaught (1959-60 and 1960-61). Ole Miss has never recorded three straight seasons with 10 or more wins, meaning Kiffin has the chance to make history this season.

The award will be presented on Jan. 21, 2026, during the American Heart Association’s awards ceremony on CBS.

Republish this article

Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Unless otherwise noted, you can republish most of The Daily Mississippian’s stories for free under a Creative Commons license.

For digital publications:
Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the HTML code and paste it into your Content Management System (CMS).
Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the "Republish This Story" button option. To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
Any website our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @thedailymississippian on Facebook and @thedm_news on X (formerly Twitter).

For print publications:
You have to credit The Daily Mississippian. We prefer “Author Name, The Daily Mississippian” in the byline. If you’re not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: “This story was originally published by The Daily Mississippian” and include our website, thedmonline.com.
You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
You cannot republish our editorial cartoons, photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission (contact our managing editor Michael Guidry for more information). To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories.
You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
You can only publish select stories individually — not as a collection.
Any website our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
If you have any other questions, contact the Student Media Center at Ole Miss.

Lane Kiffin named candidate for coach of the year

Kiffin was added to the list of coaches in the running for the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award.

Square Jam leaves Rebel Basketball fans hyped for the season

University of Mississippi professor honored with physics leadership fellowship

Related Posts

In Case You Missed It

Navigate Site

Follow Us

Republish this article

Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License

Queue