Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter mentioned after assembly Friday with coach Lane Kiffin and the college’s chancellor {that a} choice on Kiffin’s future with the college will likely be made after the Rebels play their last recreation of the season, their annual rivalry in opposition to Mississippi State.
“Whereas we talk about essential subsequent steps, we all know we can’t lose sight of what’s most essential — our sixth-ranked workforce that’s poised to complete the common season in historic style,” Carter mentioned in an announcement posted on X.
Let’s lock in and concentrate on retaining the Golden Egg! pic.twitter.com/5xPfDozhl2
— Keith Carter (@KeithCarterOM) November 21, 2025
Within the final week, members of Kiffin’s household have been to Baton Rouge and Gainesville as each LSU and Florida court docket the 50-year-old coach to fill their head teaching vacancies.
Kiffin’s present workforce is No. 6 within the Faculty Soccer Playoff rankings and off this week with a rivalry recreation in opposition to Mississippi State looming on Black Friday. The Rebels (10-1) can be nearly assured of constructing the 12-team Playoff with a victory, however whether or not Kiffin will likely be teaching the workforce for much longer could be very a lot unsure.
Ole Miss has been engaged on a contract extension to maintain Kiffin in Oxford and make him one of many highest-paid coaches in faculty soccer, and needed to get this situation resolved earlier than the Egg Bowl. Earlier this week, Ole Miss officers gave Kiffin an ultimatum, pushing him to determine on his future earlier than the workforce’s subsequent recreation.
LSU and Florida each fired their coaches in October and want to fill these vacancies quickly so the brand new coach can begin constructing subsequent 12 months’s roster. The signing interval for highschool recruits begins in early December, and the switch portal opens in early January.
The Faculty Soccer Playoff kicks off with its first spherical on Dec. 19-20 and runs by way of Jan. 19. Faculties making an attempt to rent a brand new coach don’t need to look forward to potential candidates to play out their seasons to get a choice.
The Rebels have gone 54-19 over six seasons below Kiffin, who’s 116-53 as a university coach, together with stints at Tennessee, USC and Florida Atlantic. Kiffin’s teaching profession his been tumultuous and drama-filled, relationship again to the season-and-a-quarter he spent as head coach of the Raiders. He was employed at 31, went 5-15 and was fired by proprietor Al Davis, who known as Kiffin a “flat-out liar” on the time.
Kiffin additionally left Tennessee after only one season to grow to be USC’s coach.
Kiffin has been courted by SEC rivals throughout his Ole Miss tenure earlier than. In 2022, Auburn was involved in hiring Kiffin. Whereas hypothesis swirled, the Rebels faltered down the stretch of the season, dropping 4 of their final 5 regular-season video games.
Kiffin has led the Rebels to three-straight double digit victory seasons since then, elevating his inventory as a candidate for different jobs. Florida appeared just like the most probably touchdown spot for him, given his household’s roots within the state. His father, the late Monte Kiffin, spent a lot of an extended teaching profession with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
