Hot coaching commodity Lane Kiffin has a tough

Twelve years in the past, coach Lane Kiffin was humiliated, fired by USC athletic director Pat Haden on an airport tarmac at 3 a.m. moments after the Trojans had flown in from Phoenix after getting crushed by Arizona State, 62-41.

OK, so perhaps it wasn’t the tarmac, perhaps that’s just Trojan lore, perhaps the abrupt firing befell in a small room next to the runway.

Either manner, the reminiscence has been burned in Kiffin’s coronary heart and thoughts, serving to inspire him to elevated success on the sphere and seemingly heartfelt steadiness in his personal life.

Now the tables have turned. Kiffin, 50, has led Ole Miss to a No. 6 national rating and 10-1 document, the fourth yr in the last 5 the Rebels have gained at least 10 video games. He seemingly shed the repute for aloofness and me-first perspective that dogged him as a failed NFL head coach at age 32 and as an Alabama assistant let go by Nick Saban days before a national title sport for focusing an excessive amount of on his next job.

Yet, right here we’re again, Kiffin apparently considering the unthinkable. Would he actually abandon Ole Miss on the eve of the College Football Playoff for Florida or Louisiana State, fellow SEC colleges and established national powers looking for head coaches?

Kiffin’s ex-wife Layla — they’re on pleasant phrases — and 17-year-old son Knox just lately had been flown on personal jets to Gainesville, Fla., and Baton Rouge, La., presumably to take a look at the livability and vibes of the potential next entry on Kiffin’s resume.

Ole Miss is effectively conscious of Kiffin’s impending choice and clearly need to know the reply forward of the Rebels’ regular-season finale Nov. 28 against Mississippi State. Kiffin, however, denied rumors that Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter had given him an ultimatum to resolve before then.

“Yeah, that’s absolutely not true,” Kiffin told “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN on Tuesday. “There has been no ultimatum, anything like that at all. And so I don’t know where that came from, like a lot of stuff that comes out there. Like I said, man, we’re having a blast. I love it here.”

In equity to Kiffin, the urgency to resolve now somewhat than at season’s end is a perform of today’s school soccer recruiting calendar and switch portal. The high faculty signing period begins Dec. 3 and the switch portal opens Jan. 2.

The first spherical of the CFP might be Dec. 19 and 20. The quarterfinals are on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Florida and LSU can’t wait that long to rent a coach.

What ought to he do? Most seasoned pundits consider he mustn’t budge.

“Kiffin should stay and see the season out; attempt to win, try to reach the Final Four or beyond, make the memories, and forge the deep bonds that coaching is supposed to be about,” longtime columnist Dan Wetzel wrote for ESPN.

Reasons to soar to LSU or Florida are that both colleges are in talent-rich states with large fan bases and deep custom. The ceiling is increased and the stands fuller than in Oxford, Miss. Also, coaches at those established SEC powers have a tendency to dig in for years. Who is aware of when a related alternative will current itself?

Kiffin’s quandary is comprehensible. Old Miss directors, however, vividly recall 2022 when Kiffin was courted by Auburn and allowed the issue to linger and sabotage a probably great season. The Rebels had been 8-1 when the rumors started and then misplaced 4 in a row.

Nobody at Ole Miss desires another collapse because Kiffin — again — had a wandering eye. His choice is troublesome, and gained’t wait.