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NCAA, College League, USA Football: Mississippi at Georgia Oct 18, 2025 Athens, Georgia, USA Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin reacts during the second half of the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium. Athens Sanford Stadium Georgia USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xDalexZaninex 20251018_ajw_sz2_136
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NCAA, College League, USA Football: Mississippi at Georgia Oct 18, 2025 Athens, Georgia, USA Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin reacts during the second half of the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium. Athens Sanford Stadium Georgia USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xDalexZaninex 20251018_ajw_sz2_136
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is a name associated with more than one program, given the current state of the head coaching carousel. After getting rid of Brian Kelly, the LSU Tigers want someone who can take the bull by the horns. The apparent number one choice for Kelly’s replacement at LSU is, of course, Kiffin. Now that another SEC team’s name gets linked to Kiffin, Kirk Herbstreit comes up with a piece of golden advice.
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On November 3, The Ryen Russillo Show posted a clip of the ESPN College GameDay host’s latest interview. Asked to put himself in Kiffin’s shoes, Herbstreit says, “I might stay. I really might. In the world we’re in now.” Apparently, the grass is not greener on the other side.
No matter how bitter it sounds for the Ole Miss fans, the College GameDay host said, “Ole Miss has always been kind of a second tier (to) Florida, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, whatever it is. But man, now, what’s your budget look like? What can you afford? It’s no longer, ‘We win here. We send guys to the NFL. We’ve got tradition.’ No one cares. It’s, ‘How much you paying?'”
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Kiffin has held the head coaching position at Ole Miss since 2020, compiling a 52-19 record in that span, and now Ole Miss is flirting with playoff contention. With momentum on his side and job security in Oxford, there’s little incentive for him to jump into another pressure cooker. It’s a safe space for the head coach in the Rebels squad.
As per Herbstreit’s analysis, the coaching climate has shifted. He continued, “So at Ole Miss, without the pressure of Brian Kelly, ‘Win or else you’re fired,’ or Hugh Freeze, ‘Win or else you’re fired,’ or Kalen DeBoer, who’s kind of righted the ship, ‘Win or else you’re fired.’ Ole Miss is kind of like, ‘Hey, you notice the miles per hour?’” There is no longer the same mad dash for the top Big Ten or SEC jobs. Some coaches can now compete at a high level without the constant spotlight.
Kiffin might choose that path, but Ole Miss has to pay for the privilege. His $9 million salary places him among the top ten highest-paid coaches in the country, USA TODAY reports. However, a few days back, Herbstreit inched towards an LSU job for Kiffin when spoiled for choice.
Kirk Herbstreit once deemed LSU the best fit for Lane Kiffin
Things were still hot at LSU with the Tigers pulling the trigger for Kelly when Herbstreit sat for a conversation with Joey Galloway. “Which job is more intriguing – LSU or Penn State?” asked the ESPN host. He himself answered, “I would pick LSU over Penn State only because there are a lot of people in talking to the coaching fraternity, they look at LSU and Ohio State in the same way.”
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NCAA, College League, USA Football: Georgia at Mississippi Nov 9, 2024 Oxford, Mississippi, USA Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin watches during warm ups prior to the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Oxford Vaught-Hemingway Stadium Mississippi USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xPetrexThomasx 20241109_tbs_in1_083
What made the analyst believe Baton Rouge would be a better place for Kiffin than Penn State? “You’re the only team in that state. You control recruiting in that state,” he said. “If you can control New Orleans and Baton Rouge and that entire Lafayette, all that area, you’re going to get some great players. Penn State, I mean, you’re splitting hairs, both those but the expectations are scary.”
To Herbstreit, Baton Rouge seemed a culture ideally suited for Kiffin, who has molded Ole Miss into an 8-1 force with its only loss this year against Georgia. The Rebels answered back with an impressive win at No. 11 Oklahoma, giving Kiffin three top-11 finishes in four years. His success hasn’t gone unnoticed. LSU, Florida, and Penn State have all shown interest. Now, Herbstreit advised Kiffin to stay locked to Ole Miss.
Just like LSU, he has been under the Tennessee Volunteers’ radar. As Richard G. West tweeted, “The only name being thrown out there is Lane Kiffin as a replacement.” But there, too, Kirk Herbstreit has shut down the conversation. As he advised the Vols to continue with their present head coach, “Lock Josh Heupel and his staff down for a 100 years.”
With the college football carousel spinning fast, it’s time to see if Lane Kiffin plants his flag at Ole Miss or rides off to his next frontier. It will surely be an interesting few weeks for Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss.
Written by
Edited by
Jacob Gijy