It’s become clear that Lane Kiffin is the top candidate for both the open Florida and LSU head coaching jobs. But can Ole Miss do enough to keep him?
“There’s no question that Lane Kiffin is the buzz, and he is on the lips of the power brokers at both Florida and LSU,” ESPN’s college football insider Pete Thamel said on *College Football Live* on Thursday. “What Ole Miss has helped him build there has been incredible. Right now it’s hard to imagine Lane Kiffin coaching at Ole Miss next year. The opportunity that looms at either LSU or Florida is too big.
“The variable here that’s going to be fascinating, that’s going to loom over the last two months of this season, is how the dynamics would work if Ole Miss does indeed make the Playoff, which they are on target to do right now if they keep winning as they have.”
Florida and LSU became two of the biggest coaching openings after recently firing Billy Napier and Brian Kelly, respectively.
Kiffin is in his sixth season with Ole Miss and has led the program to an impressive 7-1 record to start this year. The Rebels currently hold the No. 7 spot in the rankings.
Nick Saban echoed Thamel’s sentiment, although he questioned whether moving to Florida or LSU would actually be the best idea for Kiffin.
“Lane is the first name up for Florida and the first name up for LSU,” Saban told On3. “But I think you can have a long debate on whether either one of those jobs is actually better than the job he has now because he has some guys over there at Ole Miss that give him pretty much whatever he wants from a roster standpoint. He may not necessarily have the same thing at Florida or LSU. So you look at these jobs differently now.
“Yeah, maybe you got facilities. Maybe you got money. Maybe you’ve got alumni who are passionate about football, but are they willing to invest now to win? Because a lot of people don’t believe in this s–t.”
Saban, who won his first national championship with LSU in 2003 before embarking on his long tenure at Alabama, brings a unique perspective on the LSU job and the broader college football coaching landscape.
As the season progresses, all eyes will remain on Kiffin and whether the opportunities at Florida or LSU will be enough to lure him away from a thriving program at Ole Miss.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/30/sports/opportunity-for-lane-kiffin-is-too-big-to-stay-at-ole-miss-espn-insider/
