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Lane Kiffin’s decision between staying at a College Football Playoff-bound Ole Miss team or leaving for LSU looms over an action-packed rivalry Saturday.
Kiffin’s Rebels finished a 11-1 regular season with a 38-19 win in the Egg Bowl yesterday and are a near-lock to make the Playoff, per our projections. He said after the game that he had not yet made a decision on his future and would finalize his choice by today. The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman reported this morning that LSU remains confident Kiffin will depart for Baton Rouge.
Follow the latest updates and analysis from The Athletic’s college football insiders below! What do you think Kiffin should do? Email us at live@theathletic.com, and we will include the best submissions we receive.
Go here for The Athletic’s live reaction to Ohio State vs. Michigan.
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LSU ‘very confident’ that Lane Kiffin will be coaching the Tigers next season
Kim G.: If Kiffin leaves for LSU, it's the same behavior by both parties. Lane will show that he actually hasn't changed … still chasing all that glitters, even if it isn't gold. And LSU will hire another hot-name coach who hasn't won anything by luring him with a massive guaranteed contract. It's a train wreck (again), and neither party can see it.
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Cole W.: Stay at Ole Miss!
Want to share your thoughts on the decision Kiffin faces? Email us at live@theathletic.com
Note: Submitted answers have been edited for clarity and length.
To resurface a point Matt Baker made, we now know we’re likely headed for a logjam of two-loss teams vying for a Playoff spot with Miami, Vanderbilt, BYU, Texas Tech and Oklahoma all winning today — to say nothing of three-loss Texas’ compelling (and very vocal) argument for inclusion. So it bears asking again — what if Alabama loses tonight, Lane Kiffin leaves Ole Miss anyway, and Georgia wins the SEC championship over the Rebels? How will the committee evaluate a two-loss team that’s also 0-1 under hypothetical interim coach Pete Golding or Joe Judge against a bunch of other two-loss teams with strong resumes?
The result bordered on chaotic — at least when it comes to the current logjam of contenders for at-large College Football Playoff berths. It never went into full-blown chaos mode, though. LSU fumbled away its shot at a signature win in an otherwise drama-filled season in Norman. But, as sacrilegious as it may sound to some members of the bayou faithful, the result doesn’t nearly matter as much as one potentially conference-altering decision by one Lane Monte Kiffin.
But as Bruce Feldman reported earlier Saturday, LSU sources believe that the mercurial Ole Miss head coach is leaning toward accepting the job as the next head coach of the Tigers. An announcement either way could make phones all over ding with the news of Kiffin’s choice. It remains to be seen what he will decide.
LSU, meanwhile, finished the regular season 7-5 and 5-3 in SEC play. To say Baton Rouge has been having a weird one this fall is an understatement. Former head coach Brian Kelly was fired in October and filed a lawsuit against the school to ensure he’d receive the bulk of the contract left on his once-massive deal. LSU parted ways with athletic director Scott Woodward after Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said he was unfit to hire the next head football coach at LSU.
The weirdness of this season will continue to percolate so long as Kiffin’s decision drags on. It was supposed to be sometime Saturday. But so far the only smoke from Kiffin’s camp has been a post on the social media post X from an account of his dog, Juice.
GO FURTHER
Oklahoma escapes LSU, nears likely Playoff bid as Tigers await Lane Kiffin decision
Marianne K.: I think Lane Kiffin should stay at Ole Miss and take the team to a championship. He can always leave for more money, but a championship bid doesn't come along every year.
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Heather P: Kiffin should stay at Ole Miss. The CFB landscape is changing; the old schools that are historically the best aren't necessarily the best jobs available. Kiffin has the opportunity to make history at Ole Miss in a place that loves him. If he tries to go to the "best" school available and wins a national championship, he'll be remembered as one of many. If he wins at Ole Miss, he'll be remembered as one of one.
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Micah: "LSU is not a program you jump ship from?" Nick Saban jumped to the Miami Dolphins when LSU was vastly better than it is now. (And seems to be trying to atone by putting his thumb on the scale for LSU now? That's a different subject, however …)
But that's probably the best the beat case scenario for LSU with Kiffin. Wherever he goes, Kiffin is there for a good time, not for a long time.
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Jeff C.: In the spirit of the redemption arc. Lane Kiffin has found at Ole Miss-and the Cinderella story Ole Miss has found in him: He should stay.
But in the reality of modern college football, especially SEC football, he won't. The sport has become a chain of transactions, and this is simply the next one. Permanence is rare now. Only the fans remain tied to their school, for better or worse.
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Joseph F.: If I am an Ole Miss fan, I have to wonder if this will be a yearly occurrence, assuming he says. What if Alabama or a top NFL team is looking for a coach this time next year? At what point does having a coach with a wandering eye become a liability?
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Jessica R.: These hot takes are just sad.
Burrow and Daniels are two quarterbacks who rightfully deserve all the glory they get!
However, you can not ignore the homegrown talent in our own backyard, developed at LSU!!
Chase, Peterson, Jefferson, Queen, Edwards-Helaire, Nabers, Delpit, Stingley. These are just a few! They are scattered all over the NFL. I love Burrow just as much as the next fan, but what kind of quarterback would he have been without his offensive talent? Jayden? Burrow will be the first one to tell you it's a team effort, and it starts with a great coach.
Kiffin might have a history of jumping ship, but a coach that can turn an Ole Miss program around and make it into what it is today had no business staying at Florida Atlantic! LSU is not a program you jump ship from.
He can recruit the talent. I think he is a great fit for our program. I, for one, am looking forward to the Lane Kiffin era.
One more thing, LSU hasn't had success since early 2000s Saban? You must be blind and living in a cave for the last 20 years.
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Noah C.: I think he’s going to neither. He is going to the New York Giants. More money, better chance to be glorified as a coach in football history.
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Matthew G: It feels like if any other coach in the country were doing what Lane is doing right now (re: making a decision), they would be vilified. But because Lane is “eccentric” and “quirky,” he gets a pass. Ole Miss fans should be relishing their season, yet it’s been nothing but off-field drama that their coach perpetuates. Carter has to be furious it’s playing out like this.
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Tim J.: Just a few weeks ago, I watched the documentary on him where he says it's not all about the money. We are about to find out if that was another lie or the truth. Either way, Ole Miss deserves better. I don't care how much money you threw at me, I wouldn't take the drama in Baton Rouge.
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Drew S.: Lane is likely gone, and I think it’s objectively a mistake. There is no guarantee he can deliver a natty to LSU, and anything less will see him fired (probably outside of a gumbo joint rather than on a tarmac). At Ole Miss, he has a foundation and the resources to compete with the blue bloods.
Pre-NIL, the move from Oxford to Baton Rouge would’ve been a no-brainer. He had an opportunity to cement his legacy and further redeem his tarnished reputation. This move comes with massive risk, limited upside and the feeling that Kiffin handled this entire situation about as poorly as he could’ve.
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Stu E.: Kiffin has an opportunity to rebuild a team that needs it. LSU can provide the resources for him to create an absolute contender team that would go all the way and lots of potential NFL stars under his mentorship.
Why would he stay with a team that won’t pull multiple five-star recruits?
Could Ole Miss do that? yeah. But has it? No.
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John L: He gave us everything for 6 years of his life. He helped turn us from a mid-tier SEC team to the CFP. We have the NIL $$$ and blueprint to keep going. Love you, Kiffin.
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This has to involve the possibility of Ole Miss making the SEC championship. And as Matt Baker said, that also reinforces that it's more likely Kiffin is leaning toward leaving, or else he would have already announced he's staying, whether or not it makes it to Atlanta.
That said, Ole Miss is also securely in the CFP. So if Kiffin is leaving, the SEC championship is less important.
Ben R.: From a Georgia fan’s perspective, Lane Kiffin staying at Ole Miss just makes sense because he and the Rebels were separated at birth. He has that perfect fratty stepdad energy with the visor, the smirk, the slightly chaotic brilliance, and Ole Miss leans into that vibe better than anywhere else. It is a place where he can win big, stay beloved, and keep being the most entertaining character in the SEC without having to change who he is.
And honestly, people acting like LSU is some inevitable destination or untouchable blue blood powerhouse need to chill because it is not 2019 forever, and outside of those peak moments, they have had their ups and downs like everyone else. Kirby Smart took a Georgia program that had not won a national title since the 1980s and built it into a machine, and there is nothing stopping Kiffin from carving out that same kind of long-term success at Ole Miss. He fits there, they fit him, and the SEC is more fun with him exactly where he is. Go Dawgs.
Want to share your thoughts on the decision Kiffin faces? Email us at live@theathletic.com
Note: Submitted answers have been edited for clarity and length.
I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that this is dragging into the evening hours, considering how conflicted Kiffin sounded Friday, but man, this has been a dramatic day.