By Billy Watkins
It appears to be happening again.
An SEC school, this time Florida, is coming after Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin.
The timing and circumstances are much like the Rebels’ 2022 season, when they were 8-1 before rumors of Kiffin leaving to take the Auburn job were a constant national conversation. Ole Miss lost three straight regular-season games and a bowl game.
Now, eighth-ranked Ole Miss is 6-1 and facing one of the biggest games Saturday in recent program history — at 6-1 and 13th-ranked Oklahoma, which has allowed six touchdowns so far. The Rebels are a five-point underdog.
With a win Saturday, Ole Miss would probably be favored in the rest of its games — which guarantees nothing. Still, the opportunity to do something special in November would be there for the taking.
Ole Miss can only hope that Kiffin learned something from the 2022 experience. especially this: Players hear the rumors, too. They begin to wonder if the head coach is practicing what he preaches, which is be all-in, play for the guy next to you and put team first. A distracted team is a vulnerable team.
Don’t take my word for it. A few months after the train-wreck ending of the 2022 season, I asked the quarterback at the time, Jaxson Dart, if the rumors had anything to do with the 0-4 finish.
“Yeah,” he said. “There was so much commotion and outside noise around the program. There are times when outside noise causes a bit of drama inside the locker room and you try to shut it down. But, at times, it flares up (again).
“It’s kind of tough when things are just thrown in your face. I feel like, as a team, we (were) able to stay together the best we could.”
And “the best we could” isn’t good enough to survive in the SEC.
It reached a boiling point just before the loss in the Egg Bowl. WCBI-TV in Columbus reported that Kiffin and Auburn had reached a contract agreement. State fans were chanting “Auuu-buurn . . .Auuuu-buurn” throughout the game In Oxford.
It wasn’t just the players who were feeling the stress. So, too, were the assistant coaches, the training staff, fans, business owners in the Oxford area who make more money when the team is winning.
It can put stress on the head coach’s family as well. We eventually learned that Kiffin was likely headed to Auburn until his daughter Landry persuaded him last-minute to stay.
Best case scenario would be for Ole Miss to sign Kiffin to a new contract and a hefty raise as quickly as possible.. He is currently making in the neighborhood of $9.5 million. Kiffin’s success on the field — a 50-19 record — has helped the university make that money back while also strengthening its national brand. Props should go to athletic director Keith Carter, who is already working to get a contract extension done.
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So does Kiffin stay or go?
My guess is nobody knows for sure, including Kiffin.
Is Florida really a better job than Ole Miss? It used to be, but in the era of NIL I don’t think it is.
Since NIL became a part of college football in 2021, Ole Miss has won 45 games, Florida 28.
And let’s not forget, Kiffin is not the same guy who took over the program prior to 2020. He has openly admitted that he needed Ole Miss more than Ole Miss needed him.
He gained sobriety in Oxford. He was deeply touched by the outpouring of support from the community when his dad, Monte, passed away in July 2024.
His son, Knox, is a sophomore quarterback at Oxford High School. Landry attends Ole Miss. His ex-wife has moved to Oxford.
By all accounts, he is healthy and happy.
Whether he goes or stays will play out soon enough. For now, it’s time for the players and coaches to write the 2025 team’s story. And it’s up to Kiffin to somehow help them do so without drama and without feeling abandoned.
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