After Auburn fired head football coach Bryan Harsin a few days ago, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has been heavily rumored to be the Tigers’ top target.
Harsin coached in 21 games for Auburn and went just 9-12, including 4-9 in conference games.
After the news broke that Harsin was let go, two other names with Mississippi connections began circulating, as well: current Liberty University and former Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze and Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders.
Freeze and Sanders have great reasons to take the job at Auburn. Freeze could get back in the action of the SEC. He led the Ole Miss program from 2012-2016 but was dismissed after the NCAA charged the university with recruiting violations and it was discovered he used a university-owned phone to call a female escort service. For Sanders, who has had great success in a short stint at Jackson State (23-5 overall), the Auburn job would be an opportunity to prove that he’s a legitimate head coach and to get that extra boost of exposure that the SEC provides.
And then there’s Kiffin.
Kiffin, in his third season at Ole Miss, truly was a home run hire by Athletic Director Keith Carter.
Kiffin completely turned around the football program, going 10-3 in his second season, and what was supposed to be a rebuilding season this year has turned into a season that may be even more successful. He also has invested heavily in the Ole Miss brand, with his “Come to the ‘Sip” promotions and game day attire, and his heavily followed and acclaimed social media presence.
So why would Kiffin abandon ship and head toward Auburn?
Most head coaches wouldn’t dare leave their schools after just three seasons. But Kiffin’s not most head coaches. After just one season as the head coach at Tennessee, Kiffin left for the University of Southern California to take the head coaching job after Pete Carroll departed for the Seattle Seahawks. Because of this alone, Kiffin’s name is brought up almost every time a big-name program in need of a new head coach.
Some might also say that Kiffin would find the Auburn job attractive because of how much more NIL money the Tigers have to offer players compared to the Rebels’ resources. Kiffen has been blunt about his belief that name, image and likeness money is a major factor in player recruitment.
But I find a move to Auburn by Kiffin to be unrealistic for two reasons.
One: Why would he leave to go to Auburn and put himself in a worse position than he is right now at Ole Miss? If he goes, he would have to start from scratch and rebuild the Tigers from the ground up, something that he’s already done in Oxford.
Two: Kiffin stated that he really enjoys it in Oxford and even went on to say that he “needed” it.
“I feel like I needed Oxford and Ole Miss a lot more than it needed me,” Kiffin said in a press conference in August. “I enjoy it here. It’s been awesome.”
Kiffin was asked about the rumors surrounding him and Auburn during Wednesday’s SEC teleconference, and not much was revealed.
“We don’t really comment on those things in-season,” Kiffin said during the teleconference. “They happen every year a lot of times, and all (the rumors) are is a product of players performing well and assistant coaches.”
Kiffin went on to say, “We’re happy here and have great support here.”
Kiffin also mentioned during the teleconference that he doesn’t talk with his team about these types of rumors.
“I don’t tell them anything,” Kiffin said. “We have a pro mindset here. Players have jobs to do, so do coaches. That’s how we run it. I don’t tell them anything about it because it doesn’t have anything to do with anything.”
Funny enough, Kiffin brought up Sanders’ name as someone he would want to see be the next head coach for Auburn.
“I think he’d do great,” Kiffin said during the teleconference. “I think that’s a great name, and I think they should hire him. He’s a great recruiter, a great name.”
Only Kiffin knows what he wants to decide. It’s just hard to see him leave everything he has worked for at Ole Miss to essentially start over at Auburn.
But at the end of the day, you have to be prepared to expect the unexpected, especially in the world of college football.
