College Football HQ

Nick Saban believes Lane Kiffin’s decision will come down to one thing

Rowan Fisher Shotton|
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin walks off the field during a college football game between Mississippi State and Ole Miss at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi.
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin walks off the field during a college football game between Mississippi State and Ole Miss at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi. | Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Ole Miss Rebels

With Ole Miss closing the regular season with a 38-19 Egg Bowl win that gave the Rebels their best regular-season record in school history, the whole college football world now awaits Lane Kiffin's decision.

Kiffin’s announcement on his college coaching future, set for Saturday, now leaves the SEC and College Football Playoff picture in limbo, with administrators and fans openly questioning whether he should coach through the postseason if he departs.

Ole Miss enters the postseason as an 11-win, top-10 team under Kiffin’s sixth-year leadership, and the program’s surge has only heightened outside interest.

On ESPN’s College GameDay, Nick Saban, a long-time mentor to Kiffin, said the decision will ultimately come down to one thing: “Where is the place that I can recruit the best players?” 

Kiffin has transformed Ole Miss into a national title contender and boasts a six-year record that sits among the best in Rebels history (55-19 overall; .743 winning percentage). 

After this season, he has now led Ole Miss to three straight seasons with 10+ wins, making him the only coach in program history to do so.

That success is the reason LSU and Florida, two blue-chip SEC openings this cycle, have been linked to him for weeks.

Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin.
Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin looks on before the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Things intensified after Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter set a deadline for a public decision on Saturday; Kiffin said after Friday's win that he remains undecided.

Multiple outlets say LSU has made an aggressive pitch and remains “waiting” on Kiffin, while Florida appears to be pivoting toward other targets after mixed signals from Kiffin’s camp. 

Taken together, many are interpreting this as LSU being the frontrunner, though Ole Miss has indicated it will try to match any offer. 

Kiffin’s choice will impact not only Ole Miss’s playoff hopes, but also the direction of LSU and Florida’s coaching searches.

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Rowan Fisher
ROWAN FISHER SHOTTON

Rowan Fisher-Shotton is a versatile journalist known for sharp analysis, player-driven storytelling, and quick-turn coverage across CFB, CBB, the NBA, WNBA, and NFL. A Wilfrid Laurier alum and lifelong athlete, he’s written for FanSided, Pro Football Network, Athlon Sports, and Newsweek, tackling every beat with both a reporter’s edge and a player’s eye.

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