Major College Football Program Offering 'Substantial' Contract Offer To Lane Kiffin

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin has emerged as the most popular decision-maker across this year's coaching carousel with the LSU Tigers and Florida Gators looking to sway him out of Oxford.

No. 5 Ole Miss has navigated a historic season in 2025 with a College Football Playoff berth inching closer, but as Kiffin remains noncommittal to the program, his future has stolen headlines.

It's no secret LSU and Florida are the pair of SEC schools swinging for the fences, but can the two schools seemingly "outbid" Ole Miss for the program's shot-caller?

Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt believes LSU and Ole Miss are both prepared to offer a blank check to Kiffin as the schools look to have him on their sidelines in 2026.

“There’s an old coaching adage out there that the quickest way to be defeated is to be distracted,” Klatt said. “I think that the biggest threat to Ole Miss down the stretch is distraction. And that distraction in the form of their future head coach.

Ole Miss Rebels Football: Lane Kiffin. — Courtesy of Ole Miss Rebels Football.

"I don’t know where Lane Kiffin is going to end up. I know that Ole Miss is basically telling him, ‘Hey, it’s a blank check. You tell us what you need to stay here, and we will do it.’ I have that on good authority.

“I also have, on pretty good authority, that LSU is prepared to do the same thing for Lane Kiffin. They’ll basically tell him, ‘The keys are yours.’ Florida is a job that I think Lane would prefer over the other two, from what I’ve been told, and they are not quite in the same boat as Ole Miss and LSU in terms of ‘here, the sky is yours and name your price.’ There are more strings.”

Now, according to Football Scoop, the LSU Tigers' offer to Kiffin is to make him the highest paid coach in college football.

According to Football Scoop, "Sources tell FootballScoop that LSU's offer to Kiffin would top Kirby Smart's deal, currently the highest-paid college football coach. LSU's new AD Verge Ausberry, new President Wade Rousse and even the Governor of the great state of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, are on board."

Ole Miss Rebels Football. — Nov 15, 2025; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin and his son, Knox Kiffin, walk onto the field after defeating the Florida Gators at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

"The question is, will Lane leave Ole Miss to go to one of their more detested rivals," the report added. "Moreover, Kiffin has emerged two different times as the top target in the Florida Gators' search to replace Billy Napier, several sources told FootballScoop. It's believed those two parties also spoke in recent weeks.

"Many in the profession do not expect Lane to make the move to LSU as the bad blood doesn't feel like something Lane is into these days."

Fast forward to Thursday and The Baton Rouge Advocate's Wilson Alexander hopped on McElroy and Cubelic where he revealed a "substantial" contract offer.

“What I’ve heard is substantial, like a very large financial package,” Alexander said on McElroy and Cubelic on WJOX Radio on Thursday.

"What I've heard is substantial, a very large financial package. I don't have the affirmed number...but it would be somewhere with the highest paid coaches in the country, maybe over 13 million dollars."@whalexander_ on what @LSUfootball contract for Lane Kiffin could be https://t.co/CwERHOXHS0 pic.twitter.com/qhPeGWyUxk
— McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning (@macandcube) November 20, 2025

“I think that they would make him, put him up there with the highest-paid coaches in the country, which would be maybe over $13 million, something like that, on an annual basis.”

Now, as the coaching search intensifies, Kiffin remains the hottest name on the market with Ole Miss, LSU, and Florida swinging for the fences.

More Ole Miss News:

National Analyst Believes Miami Dolphins Should Hire Ole Miss Football's Lane Kiffin

Ole Miss Football Great Doubles Down on Lane Kiffin to Florida Gators 'Not Happening'

Tony Vitello Pokes Fun at Ole Miss Football's Lane Kiffin in Goodbye to Tennessee

Join the Community:

Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and Ole Miss Rebels On SI: @OleMissOnSI for all coverage surrounding the Ole Miss program.