There's no official announcement yet on where Lane Kiffin is going, but Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio revealed intel on the 50-year-old's ongoing job search that could cause great distress to Ole Miss Rebel fans.
As of Friday night, Florio had heard that Kiffin is lining up his coaching staff with the LSU Tigers for the 2026 season. Florio claimed that this wasn't confirmation that Kiffin is leaving, but it sure sounds like LSU is relevant enough to begin the work in Baton Rouge.
"We’re told that Kiffin is lining up his coaching staff at LSU. It’s the kind of tidbit that quickly can spread on the coaching-industry grapevine, as folks agree to join someone’s staff — and as they decline the opportunity to do so," Florio said.
"It’s no surprise. If Kiffin is seriously thinking about going, he’ll need to start getting people in place. And it gives him a chance to get a clean slate, leaving behind the folks from the Ole Miss staff that he either doesn’t want, or the ones who want to remain.
"This isn’t a report that Kiffin is leaving. We’ll leave that one to whoever gets the spoon-fed scoop. But it’s true that, as of Friday night, Kiffin is putting the pieces in place in the event he makes the leap to LSU."
If Kiffin is truly leaving, he's doing everything possible to become the greatest supervillain Oxford, Mississippi, has ever seen. Kiffin choosing the Tigers would seemingly confirm that he doesn't believe in the University of Mississippi, or the state of Mississippi, ever delivering him enough resources to achieve sustainable College Football Playoff success.
If Nick Saban is who he's chasing, Kiffin may know deep down he can never reach his mentor if his program is endlessly building to end up with a fraction of what Saban achieved with the University of Alabama.
Hence, slowly and painfully saying goodbye to a program he helped build to make the career upgrade most make with little to no fanfare at all.
Kiffin created a lot of this noise himself, but Rebel fans are also desperate not to see this program return to what it once was before he got there.
What Lane Kiffin's decision means for Auburn
Kiffin's decision, whether it's to remain in place or move west to the Pelican State, means the Auburn Tigers' top choice, Tulane Green Wave head coach Jon Sumrall, will become the new most-pursued coaching option.
The Florida Gators, which negotiated with Kiffin and didn't like how he did business, are now offering Sumrall full autonomy and an annual eight-figure salary to go to Gainesville. Auburn is not offering the same chance to choose his coaching staff, which could result in AU needing to promote from within.
The Tigers, in the spirit of the Ohio State Buckeyes promoting Ryan Day and the Michigan Wolverines promoting Sherrone Moore, may be forced to do the same for defensive coordinator DJ Durkin. It won't be a popular decision, but if the team can maintain its top pieces and show a product comparable to the 45-38 OT road loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores two weeks ago in Nashville, there should actually be progress on the Plains after misfiring on five years of Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze.