Kiffin Addresses Ole Miss Ultimatum as LSU, Florida Push for Rebels Head Coach

Amidst a report from the Athletic's Stewart Mandel that Ole Miss gave him a Nov. 28 ultimatum to decide on his future, Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin denied the report during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on ESPN.

"That's absolutely not true. There's been no ultimatum, anything like that at all," Kiffin said. "I don't know where that came from like a lot of stuff that's out there."

“There has been no ultimatum and that’s absolutely not true..

We’re having a blast and I love it here” @Lane_Kiffin #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/wTGK20s1pr
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 18, 2025

It's the worst-kept secret around college football that Kiffin is the Florida Gators' top candidate for the job after firing Billy Napier on Oct. 19, and after a reported visit by members of Kiffin's family to Baton Rouge on Monday, LSU has joined the fold as a contender.

Ole Miss, meanwhile, has seen its reported extension offer remain unsigned for nearly a month now, leading to the reported ultimatum set for the day of the Egg Bowl, the Rebels' regular season finale against Mississippi State. On3's Brett McMurphy reported earlier on Monday that should Kiffin decide to leave Ole Miss, the school would have to decide on letting him coach in the College Football Playoff.

The Rebels sit at 10-1 after a win over Florida and No. 7 in the CFP rankings, in prime position for a hosting bid in the First Round. The updated rankings come out on Tuesday night.

"Like I said, we're having a blast. I'm loving it. We're having a blast over here," Kiffin said. "(Kewan Lacy) is sitting over here. It just couldn't be better. Like I say, you pray for things, our fans prayed for this type of thing, and now we're in the middle of it, so enjoy it."

Florida's head coaching search has centered on Kiffin, despite athletic director Scott Stricklin saying he would have a wide range of candidates, after the Gators passed on Kiffin in 2021 to hire Napier, its sole candidate in that search, and again in 2024 to keep Napier.

"We want people who can win championships at the University of Florida. That's going to be our goal," Stricklin said on Oct. 20. "We want somebody who can come in here, be a strong leader and win championships. And, like I said, there's probably people from a lot of different backgrounds that could have the potential to do that."

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin led the Rebels to a win over Florida last week. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Still, Kiffin's potential candidacy for the job has taken over headlines of Florida's season, especially after Kiffin reportedly addressed the job with his team shortly after Napier's firing and ahead of last week's matchup between Florida and Ole Miss.

"I've not mentioned it to our staff. I've not mentioned it to our players. Do I read them and I'm aware of it? Absolutely, but no, we just we've got to prepare," interim head coach Billy Gonzales said last week of reports on Florida's interest in Kiffin. "And I keep saying this for us is we got to take care of ourselves. We got to continue to take care and persist."

Kiffin also did no favors after the game, calling it "disrespectful" to his current players to even discuss his future.

“I love what we’re doing here,” Kiffin said. “Today was awesome. And I don’t talk about that stuff and really to even talk about it right now would be so disrespectful to our players and how well they played today. So, you know, we’ve got a lot of things going here, doing really well. And I love it here.”

The Rebels are currently on a bye, while Florida, now out of contention for a bowl game, host Tennessee on Saturday before closing out the season against Florida State on Nov. 29.

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