Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin takes firm stand amid LSU rumors

With two high-profile job openings in the SEC at Florida and now LSU, the first name most often linked to both jobs has been Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin.

That puts Kiffin in a position of ideal financial leverage, whether it's with a big raise and extension to stay with the Rebels or an overwhelming offer from one of those other schools.

But appearing on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday, Kiffin says money will not at all be a factor in any career decision he makes.

"Just so you know, because you haven't known me very long, Pat, I have never made a decision based off of money, nor will I. For a lot of people, they're just like, 'Well, money, and it does this and it does that.' I've seen too many examples in life where money does not buy happiness, so I am never going to make a decision off of money," Kiffin said.

"Nor do I care about it. [My agent] Jimmy Sexton gets really mad when I say that. 'We've got to get this, we've got to get this,' and I'm like Jimmy, 'I don't care.' And he goes, 'I do.'"

With No. 7 Ole Miss (7-1) winning its seventh game Saturday -- 34-16 at then-No. 13 Oklahoma -- that triggered an automatic one-year extension in Kiffin's contract, which now runs through 2031. The added year is worth $9 million with $7.2 million guaranteed.

But whether he cares about it or not, he'll likely end up making more than that by the time this coaching carousel settles -- whether he decides to stay put at Ole Miss or not.

Kiffin said he normally doesn't address such job speculation with his team because it happens every year, but he did address it Friday night because Ole Miss has so many new players this year. He also said he thinks college athletes today understand it well because they go through it themselves with other schools trying to poach them as transfers.

Kiffin has led Ole Miss to double-digit wins in three of his first five seasons at the school and is well on his way to doing so again.

The Rebels' 7-1 start includes a 24-19 win over LSU when the Tigers were ranked No. 4 and this latest top-15 win over Oklahoma. The lone loss was on the road at Georgia. Kiffin is trying to lead the program to its first CFP appearance, and the path is favorable with remaining games against South Carolina, The Citadel, Florida and at Mississippi State.