Urban Meyer sends strong message amid rumors of Lane Kiffin leaving Ole Miss

Will he or won’t he? Aside from the Rivalry Week games themselves, the drama around Lane Kiffin and his pending decision to either leave Ole Miss for LSU or Florida, or stay at the program he helped build into a playoff team, is college football’s biggest question.

Urban Meyer believes the central question Kiffin is asking himself is not how many more millions he can put in his bank account, but what kind of commitment a school is prepared to make in winning on the field.

What Lane Kiffin is really thinking

“I don’t think it has anything to do with money. I think it has to do with winning,” Meyer said on The Triple Option podcast.

Sure, he’s winning at Ole Miss right now, but is the school prepared to spend the kind of money that would put itself in the national championship picture every season?

More than cashing a big check for himself, the former coach thinks Kiffin is seeking an opportunity that will put the most resources into the team.

“I think he’s just negotiating the most expensive roster for the next five, six, seven years,” Meyer said.

“One school offers you 14 [million], you get offered 13, okay. That just means more to charity, more to your children, that’s fine. I think I know Lane well enough that this is not about that.

“This is about winning the national title. What’s going to put him in the best position to win that? Only he can figure that out.”

Addressing the question of whether he’s happy with the Rebels and whether they can make him that promise, Meyer notably said: “That’s why I think he stays.”

What the markets are saying

Kiffin remains the solid betting favorite to become the next head coach at LSU with 57 percent odds, according to the latest numbers from the prediction market Kalshi.

And he’s also the top name on the Kalshi leader board for the Florida position at 49 percent likelihood, although Washington coach Jedd Fisch has seen his chances increase recently, moving to 42 percent on the Kalshi big board.

Where Kiffin is trending

Going simply by recent reporting, it would appear LSU remains the favorite to acquire Kiffin, with Florida seeming to drop out of the spotlight in recent days.

Key decision makers at the school have lent Kiffin their endorsement, as has Louisiana governor Jeff Landry, according to local reporting.

LSU has garnered most of the attention around the Kiffin decision given its reportedly preparing a financial package that could make him the richest coach in college football.

But going by Meyer’s logic, that wouldn’t appear to be Kiffin’s primary motivation.

Whatever it is, we’ll know the day after the Egg Bowl. And it’s a decision that could change college football in the years to come.

(Meyer)

All odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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