Twelve years ago, Coach was humiliated on the airport tarmac at 3 a.m., just after the Trojans had flown in from Phoenix.
Well, maybe it wasn’t the tarmac, maybe it was just a Trojan legend, and maybe the sudden firing took place in a small room next to the runway.
Either way, that memory is burned into Kiffin’s heart and mind, helping to motivate him to achieve more success on the field and maintain a heartfelt balance in his personal life.
Now the tables have turned. Kiffin, 50, led Ole Miss to a No. 5 national ranking and a 10-1 record, marking the fourth year in the past five years the Rebels have won at least 10 games. He seems to have shed the reputation for aloofness and me-first attitude that dogged him when he was a 32-year-old assistant at Alabama, becoming too focused on his next job just days before the national title game.
But here we are again, and Kiffin is apparently contemplating the unthinkable. Would he really abandon Ole Miss on the eve of the College Football Playoff for Florida or Louisiana, fellow SEC schools and established national powers looking for a head coach?
Kiffin’s ex-wife Leila — they are on friendly terms — and their 17-year-old son Knox were recently flown on a private jet to Gainesville, Fla., and Baton Rouge, La., presumably to get a feel for the next candidate on Kiffin’s resume.
Ole Miss is well aware of Kiffin’s impending decision and clearly wants to know the answer ahead of the Rebels’ final regular-season game against Mississippi State on Nov. 28. But Kiffin denied rumors that Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter had given him an ultimatum to make a decision by then.
“Yeah, that’s absolutely not true,” Kiffin said Tuesday on ESPN’s “Pat McAfee Show.” “There was no ultimatum or anything like that. So I don’t know where that came from. Like a lot of things that come out there. Like I said, man, we’re having a lot of fun. I love it here.”
To be fair to Kiffin, the urgency to make a decision now rather than at the end of the season is due to the way college football’s recruiting calendar and transfer portal work today. The high school signing period begins on December 3rd and the transfer portal opens on January 2nd.
The first round of the CFP will be held on December 19th and 20th, with the quarterfinals taking place on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Florida State and LSU can’t wait that long to hire a coach.
what should he do? Most experienced commentators think he shouldn’t budge.
Longtime columnist Dan Wetzel said, “Kiffin should stay and see out the season. He should try to win, try to get to the Final Four or better, make memories and build the deep bonds that coaching is all about.”
The reason to jump to LSU or Florida is because both schools are located in talent-rich states with large fan bases and deep traditions. The ceiling is higher than Oxford, Mississippi, and the stands are full. Also, coaches from established SEC powers tend to stick around for years. You never know when a similar opportunity will present itself.
Kiffin’s confusion is understandable. But Old Miss administrators vividly remember 2022, when Kiffin was courted by Auburn and allowed the issues to linger and sabotage a potentially great season. The Rebels were 8-1 when the rumors started, but have since lost four straight.
Kiffin had a wandering eye — again — and no one at Ole Miss wants to see another collapse. His decision is difficult, but he won’t wait.
