Surprising person kept Lane Kiffin from taking Auburn football head coaching job

Lane Kiffin didn't take the Auburn football head coaching job during the 2022 hiring cycle because of his daughter Landry -- who turned up the guilt on her father to keep him at Ole Miss, where she attends.

“You left me one time for another job when you went to Alabama, and now I’m here with you and you’re going to do it again?” Landry said according to a report from ESPN's Chris Low.

Kiffin not only almost left Ole Miss for Auburn in 2022, but he nearly left for FSU this past offseason. The Seminoles job never became available because Mike Norvell didn't go to Alabama, but Low reported that was an option.

“In fact, in the wee hours of that Friday morning, the fear among Florida State officials was that Norvell was close to trading his FSU garnet for Alabama crimson,” Low reported. “Sources told ESPN that Florida State was poised to move quickly if that happened and that Kiffin would be a prime candidate.”

Lane Kiffin could leave Ole Miss for the right opportunity

Kiffin consistently appears in coaching rumors, suggesting that his job-jumping ways may return one day. Kiffin has been at Ole Miss longer than any other position in his career. It's hard for him to want to leave since the Rebels have had double-digit win totals in two of his four seasons so far.

But a bigger opportunity, a program that has won it all before, will come calling eventually. There will be more money and better recruiting resources offered.

Auburn was that, but Kiffin's daughter had other plans. Now it's Hugh Freeze leading the Tigers to top-five recruiting classes in 2025 and 2026 with a top-10 class this cycle.

Most Tiger fans don't want that trade-off. There's too many back-and-forth barbs shared with Kiffin at this point to want the program and the coach linked together again at any point.