Lane Kiffin has announced when he will make a decision, but he says the choice he’ll make has yet to be determined.
After the Ole Miss coach led the seventh-ranked Rebels to a 38-19 victory over Mississippi State on Friday in the regular-season-ending Egg Bowl, Kiffin told reporters he’ll declare next year’s coaching destination on Saturday.
“I feel like I’ve got to,” Kiffin said.
The 50-year-old Kiffin has racked up a 55-19 record in six seasons at Ole Miss, a 74.3% winning rate that has attracted the attention and deep pockets of Southeastern Conference rivals LSU and Florida – both of which fired their coaches in October.
Speculation over whether Kiffin will jump to the Tigers or the Gators has reached soap-operatic proportions over the last month, but Kiffin promised to bring the storyline to a conclusion on Saturday. He also claimed, as of Friday afternoon, not to know which school he’ll pick.
“Probably not as enjoyable as people probably think it is,” Kiffin said. “Like (Georgia coach) Kirby (Smart) says when he wants to complain about being in the national championship and missing the portal window, there’s no crying from the yacht. So I’m not trying to get pity. But it’s not as enjoyable as maybe some people would think.”
There are reports, however, that Florida has moved out of range and has its eye on other candidates, operating with the belief that Kiffin is not as interested in the Gators as the Rebels or Tigers.
More than a week ago, Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter gave Kiffin a Nov. 29 deadline to make a decision. Now that Kiffin has led the Rebels to the first 11-win regular season in the school’s 120 seasons – as well as a virtually assured spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff — he has become an even hotter commodity.
“I guess no one in the entire state has ever had an 11-win regular season, so that’s pretty cool,” Kiffin said. “Especially since the SEC has never been harder or deeper than it is now.”
–Field Level Media
