Those awaiting an update on Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss status will have to wait just a little longer.
The Rebels coach, the subject of never-ending college football headlines and updates as a potential candidate for the LSU and Florida openings, reportedly met with Ole Miss brass on Friday, but neither side will spill any beans until after the Nov. 28 Egg Bowl matchup with Mississippi State.
“Coach Kiffin and I have had may pointed and positive conversations regarding his future at Ole Miss, including meeting today with Chancellor Boyce,” vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics Keith Carter said in a statement Friday. “While we discuss next steps, we know we cannot lose sight of what is move important — our sixth-ranked team that is pointed to finish the regular season in historic fashion.
Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin looks on during warm ups prior to the game against The Citadel Bulldogs. Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
“Despite the outside noise, Coach Kiffin is focused on preparing our team for the Egg Bowl, and together, we want to ensure that our player and coaches can concentrate fully on next’s Friday’s game. This team is on the cusp of an unprecedented season, and it’s imperative they feel the support of the Ole Miss family in the week ahead. An announcement on Coach Kiffin’s future is expected the Saturday following the game.”
The promise of addressing the omnipresent rumors in a week likely won’t stop every tidbit, morsel and social media dispatch from being dissected until then.
In six seasons running the Rebels, Kiffin has put together a 54-19 mark, going to a bowl in each of his first five years in Oxford, Miss., and successfully rehabbing the villain-esque image that followed him in his early career.
This year, he’s guided the Rebels to a 10-1 start, good for sixth in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, and third in the SEC at 6-1.
It’s no wonder LSU and Florida reportedly flew his family out for campus tours, though Kiffin has grown increasingly loath to address the growing gossip, even getting feisty during this week’s SEC teleconference call.
“I’m gonna stay on what I’ve done for six years, which isn’t talking about other jobs and that situation,” Kiffin said after repeated inquiries over his Mississippi future.
“Do you know something I don’t know?” he asked one reporter. “Do I expect to coach next week? Why would I not expect to coach next week? I mean, I expected to coach against Florida, too. So I don’t even understand the question of how I would not expect to coach next week? ‘Why would I be at work?’”
