Joel Klatt changes prediction on where Lane Kiffin will coach in 2026

Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin is now the hottest name in college football coaching. Amid a banner year with the Rebels and headed for the program's first-ever College Football Playoff appearance, rumors have run rampant, tagging his name to all the top open jobs. Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt predicted a bold move for Kiffin this offseason on a show last week but has since changed his mind on that pick.

Klatt, the top Fox college football broadcaster, joined the Barstool Sports podcast Pardon My Take this week and discussed a litany of college football topics with hosts Big Cat and PFT Commenter. Of course, the wild 2025 coaching carousel careened into the conversation. Joel Klatt had said last week he believed Kiffin would wind up at LSU, but now does not expect he'll end up in Baton Rouge.

"I don’t think Lane’s going to take that job," Klatt said of the LSU opening, with PFT Commenter agreeing. "I think he’s I think he’s going to stay at Old Miss." Even Big Cat added, "I do, too."

For Klatt, this is a new angle: "If you would asked me last week, I would have said, 'No, no, no. He’s definitely going to leave.'" He added that, now, he believes Kiffin is staying put in Oxford. "I’m leaning that direction," Klatt added.

Joel Klatt likens Kiffin/Ole Miss to Deion Sanders at Colorado

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders walks along the sidelines | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Klatt went on to explain that, in the modern era, a guy like Lane Kiffin might be the perfect fit at Ole Miss the way Deion Sanders was a great fit with Colorado, at least for a short while in that case.

"Let me like make an analogy to Colorado, which is where I played," said Klatt. "Colorado needed Deion Sanders badly, like they needed air to breathe. But I would make the argument Deion needed a place like Colorado because it wasn’t a place that was going to be heavy-handed with tradition or, 'You can’t do this or that.'"

Instead, Sanders, and Kiffin at Ole Miss, have a sort of monarchic rule over their little Big 12 and SEC domains. They aren't bowing down to the history of iconic programs like a Florida or LSU. Instead, it's their show.

"It’s just like, you’ve got the keys to the entire castle, do it how you want to do it, this is your program," Klatt said of Deion Sanders' position at Colorado. "And in some ways, Lane has that at Ole Miss, and he wouldn’t have that at other places."

Joel Klatt really believes the mutual fit is so strong in Oxford right now, which is why he's changed his tune on where Lane Kiffin will wind up after this season.

"At Ole Miss, it’s his program," Klatt added. "I think if you sat back, if you’re Lane, and you value that, then you would stay. That’s why I’m leaning that direction. I think Ole Miss is good for Lane as much as Lane is good for Ole Miss."