Fly War Eagle
Fansided

RebelGrove on Lane Kiffin: Cowboys, Panthers, Jets bigger threats to poach Ole Miss coach than Auburn football

By Andrew Hughes

Auburn footballRebelGrove believes the Cowboys, Panthers, and Jets are all bigger threats than Auburn football to poach Lane Kiffin away from Ole Miss Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Auburn footballRebelGrove believes the Cowboys, Panthers, and Jets are all bigger threats than Auburn football to poach Lane Kiffin away from Ole Miss Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Auburn football had the eye of Lane Kiffin back in 2020 following Gus Malzahn’s unceremonious firing, but according to RebelGrove’s Neal McCready, that is no longer the case after a season and a half of Bryan Harsin floundering in the head coaching seat.

Harsin is 9-10 overall leading the Tigers, with five of those games coming against Group of Five/FCS opponents. Auburn’s upcoming October 15 SEC West clash with Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels could be his last according to Paul Finebaum.

While Kiffin’s name has been floated ad nauseum by Tiger fans, McCready believes that Kiffin isn’t likely to go to a program whose boosters have a nearly unparalleled influence on the program nationwide besides Texas and Texas A&M.

Instead, he believes that the biggest threats to poaching Kiffin from Oxford are outside of the collegiate realm altogether. McCready floated three NFL franchises in particular as the most likely landing spots for Kiffin should he leave an Ole Miss program he’s helped rebuild:

"“…if you draw a Venn diagram of jobs that would pay Kiffin $9-plus million per year, make him the brand and have the resources to load up on five-star prospects and openings at those schools and it’s a really small overlap. Tiny.”“If I were an Ole Miss fan, I’d be worried about the Cowboys, Panthers or Jets than I would Auburn, but that’s just me.”"

Another Ole Miss coaching great is a more realistic Auburn football target

With dreams of Lane Kiffin on the Plains likely to stay in the realm of speculation, unlikely to ever reach the depths of reality, another Ole Miss coaching great with far less leverage in the college football world is someone Auburn football fans are better off keeping their eye on.

That’d be Hugh Freeze, who left the Rebels program in disgrace after several allegations came to light calling into question his character. Freeze has brought Liberty to previously unreached heights during his four years running the Flames, and could be due for a jump back into the SEC after dominating with an independent.

Freeze would likely cherish the chance to be coaching at the sport’s highest level once more, and given the current conundrum playing out in front of a national audience in Auburn, he’d be one of the few high-profile names willing to sign up for the most polarizing position in college football’s most passionate state.

Home/Auburn Football