Lane Kiffin has decided to remain at Ole Miss.
After weeks of speculation about his future with the Rebels and his candidacy at Auburn, Kiffin told ESPN on Saturday that he plans to remain in Oxford, Miss., and sign a new contract with Ole Miss.
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“I had a meeting with the team and the staff and told them I was staying and it would be announced after the game,” Kiffin told ESPN’s Chris Low. “I didn’t want it to be about me staying before the game, but about the team.”
Kiffin’s statement to ESPN backs up his brief remarks after Thursday’s Egg Bowl loss to rival Mississippi State. After the Rebels’ 24-22 loss to the Bulldogs, Kiffin was asked if he anticipated being the coach at Ole Miss next season. He said, “yeah, I do.” Another reported followed up by asking Kiffin if he anticipated remaining at Ole Miss even if Auburn offered him its head coaching position. Kiffin again said, “I do.”
When Kiffin signs his new contract with the Rebels, which was reportedly presented to him last week, it will be his fourth deal since joining the program at the end of the 2019 season. His most recent contract, which he signed last December, was for four years and paid him $7.25 million this season, making him the 11th-highest paid coach in the country.
According to a report by Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger, Kiffin’s new deal with Ole Miss will be for at least six years at an average of $9 million per season. Mississippi state law prevents contracts longer than four years for public employees, but according to the report, Kiffin’s deal will be through Ole Miss’ private foundation as a workaround.
Kiffin’s assertion that he will sign a new contract with Ole Miss effectively removes him from Auburn’s ongoing search, which began on Halloween when the Tigers fired Bryan Harsin on the same day they announced the hiring of new athletics director John Cohen. Kiffin was long viewed as the top candidate to replace Harsin, who went just 9-12 in 21 games. Buzz surrounding Kiffin candidacy had grown in the last week as the regular season has wound down, with the 47-year-old asked about the Auburn job and his future at Ole Miss on three separate occasions: following his team’s loss to Arkansas last Saturday, during his Monday press conference and again after Thursday’s Egg Bowl.
With Kiffin off the board, Auburn’s search will turn elsewhere, with Cohen expected to make a hire official not long after the Tigers wrap up their regular season Saturday in the Iron Bowl.
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.
