Lane Kiffin Sweepstakes

[Apptiger]

Not sure if any of you have been following the Lane Kiffin saga but it's fully grab your popcorn worthy.
Kiffin is being offered jobs at Florida and LSU and is currently at Ole Miss and having the best season at Ole Miss in like a hundred years.They are firmly entrenched in the playoff group. A berth in the SEC championship game would require two other teams losing this weekend.

Florida thinks they have him, LSU wants him, Ole Miss wants him to stay.

Ole Miss gave him a contract extension a month or so ago, he has not signed it. Apparently they have given him an ultimatum for a decision this weekend. It is reported if he is leaving, they will not allow him to coach the team through the playoffs. It looks like he is leaving, where is up in the air. The Gator nation thinks it's a done deal and he is going to Gainesville.

Kiffin's dad was the defensive coordinator for the Buc's for a long time so he spent a lot of time in Tampa, his (reconciled ex)wife was a Gator cheerleader and daughter of Gator hall of fame QB John Reaves. She is also the sister of David Reaves former APP State QB.
A lot of LSU staff including the Athletic director and acting head coach have worked with Kiffin before. Some of those connections are through Saban.

It has been reported that Saban was about to come out of retirement and go back to LSU but changed his mind and has recommended Kiffin.
Kiffin's family toured Gainesville Sunday and Baton Rouge Monday.

This drama has everyone over here freaking out. As a dad with sons that went to both schools, I have been following this pretty closely. It's been crazy.

[ASUTodd]

Not sure if any of you have been following the Lane Kiffin saga but it's fully grab your popcorn worthy.
Kiffin is being offered jobs at Florida and LSU and is currently at Ole Miss and having the best season at Ole Miss in like a hundred years.They are firmly entrenched in the playoff group. A berth in the SEC championship game would require two other teams losing this weekend.

Florida thinks they have him, LSU wants him, Ole Miss wants him to stay.

Ole Miss gave him a contract extension a month or so ago, he has not signed it. Apparently they have given him an ultimatum for a decision this weekend. It is reported if he is leaving, they will not allow him to coach the team through the playoffs. It looks like he is leaving, where is up in the air. The Gator nation thinks it's a done deal and he is going to Gainesville.

Kiffin's dad was the defensive coordinator for the Buc's for a long time so he spent a lot of time in Tampa, his (reconciled ex)wife was a Gator cheerleader and daughter of Gator hall of fame QB John Reaves. She is also the sister of David Reaves former APP State QB.
A lot of LSU staff including the Athletic director and acting head coach have worked with Kiffin before. Some of those connections are through Saban.

It has been reported that Saban was about to come out of retirement and go back to LSU but changed his mind and has recommended Kiffin.
Kiffin's family toured Gainesville Sunday and Baton Rouge Monday.

This drama has everyone over here freaking out. As a dad with sons that went to both schools, I have been following this pretty closely. It's been crazy.

Man it must be tough for him to have 3 people throwing MILLIONS of dollars at him...... He's going to be fine no matter what he does. Recruiting will be easier for him at LSU and Florida. If it were me, I'd go LSU.

[ASUFan4863]

It’s funny that he is basically taking official visits to the campus and they are offering contracts, which is exactly what he will be doing to portal recruits soon. I don’t recall a situation as interesting as this where there is one known hot commodity and everyone wants him and everyone knows it.

[BambooRdApp]

It’s funny that he is basically taking official visits to the campus and they are offering contracts, which is exactly what he will be doing to portal recruits soon. I don’t recall a situation as interesting as this where there is one known hot commodity and everyone wants him and everyone knows it.

Is he taking visits ..or his family taking visits?

[BambooRdApp]

Setting aside the money considerations... If he is winning at Ole Miss and gets to playoffs, seems that may help recruiting.

For me, I prefer ole miss and the grove.... Players probably prefer being not too far from New Orleans... Gainesville is in BFE middle of Florida.. Who would want to go there? . People that prefer Jorts?

[ASUFan4863]

It’s funny that he is basically taking official visits to the campus and they are offering contracts, which is exactly what he will be doing to portal recruits soon. I don’t recall a situation as interesting as this where there is one known hot commodity and everyone wants him and everyone knows it.

Is he taking visits ..or his family taking visits?

Good question. It appears just his family, led by his ex-wife who is now his girlfriend.

[proasu89]

It’s funny that he is basically taking official visits to the campus and they are offering contracts, which is exactly what he will be doing to portal recruits soon. I don’t recall a situation as interesting as this where there is one known hot commodity and everyone wants him and everyone knows it.

Is he taking visits ..or his family taking visits?

Good question. It appears just his family, led by his ex-wife who is now his girlfriend.

Sounds like she entered the transfer portal and decided she had a better deal at home.

[t4pizza]

Traditionally speaking, both LSU and UF are better than Ole Miss. But we aren't living in a traditional time. Just look at this year, and the entire time he has been at Ole Miss, Lane has more wins than LSU or UF coaches and he is beloved. If he stays at Ole Miss, he likely gets a statute and is ultimately the winningest coach in their history. At UF and LSU, it is Natty or bust. Heck, even if you win a Natty at UF you don't get a statute. There are only 3, Spurrier, Weurfell, Tebow and they all won Heismans and a Natty (Spurrier got the Natty as a coach), there is not statute for Meyer and he isn't even liked or missed down there despite winning 2 nattys for them. Gainesville is actually a great college town but the expectation of UF fans is a tad bit unrealistic, they ran Dan Mullen out of town and he holds the third highest winning percentage of all UF coaches. He was doing really good, hit a bad 3-5 stretch and found himself out of a job. That type of stuff won't ever happen at Ole Miss, he can continue to win 10 games in a row and be the toast of the town. If I were him I would stay put.

[BambooRdApp]

It’s funny that he is basically taking official visits to the campus and they are offering contracts, which is exactly what he will be doing to portal recruits soon. I don’t recall a situation as interesting as this where there is one known hot commodity and everyone wants him and everyone knows it.

Is he taking visits ..or his family taking visits?

Good question. It appears just his family, led by his ex-wife who is now his girlfriend.

Reality TV

[Apptiger]

Traditionally speaking, both LSU and UF are better than Ole Miss. But we aren't living in a traditional time. Just look at this year, and the entire time he has been at Ole Miss, Lane has more wins than LSU or UF coaches and he is beloved. If he stays at Ole Miss, he likely gets a statute and is ultimately the winningest coach in their history. At UF and LSU, it is Natty or bust. Heck, even if you win a Natty at UF you don't get a statute. There are only 3, Spurrier, Weurfell, Tebow and they all won Heismans and a Natty (Spurrier got the Natty as a coach), there is not statute for Meyer and he isn't even liked or missed down there despite winning 2 nattys for them. Gainesville is actually a great college town but the expectation of UF fans is a tad bit unrealistic, they ran Dan Mullen out of town and he holds the third highest winning percentage of all UF coaches. He was doing really good, hit a bad 3-5 stretch and found himself out of a job. That type of stuff won't ever happen at Ole Miss, he can continue to win 10 games in a row and be the toast of the town. If I were him I would stay put.

Mullen got let go at UF because he hated recruiting and avoided it. It started to show. His best years there were his first few and with players recruited by others. The program was on a downward slide and they decided 13-10 over his last two years and 5-6 his last year was enough.
There was a lot going on with Urban behind the scenes. I won't go into details mostly because they are not public and unverified but.. Winning can compensate for a lot.

There is a lot of political type stuff at LSU but overall I think LSU would be a better job. Before Brian Kelly, the last three coaches LSU had won Natty's. Pretty sure Kiffin is a better coach than Les Miles and Orgeron. It has taken hall of fame caliber coaches to win it at Florida. He doesn't have as much in state recruiting competition in LA either.

Kiffin is young, he would have a chance to be THE legend at LSU. I think exceeding Saban would appeal to Kiffin but then again, he has matured.
Kiffin seems to like pro ball and could bolt from LSU like he has from everywhere else. He is already a "legend" in Oxford but most think he has taken them as far as anyone can.

It has been interesting to watch, we'll have news in the next week or so if the Ole Miss ultimatum story is true.

[Apptiger]

It’s funny that he is basically taking official visits to the campus and they are offering contracts, which is exactly what he will be doing to portal recruits soon. I don’t recall a situation as interesting as this where there is one known hot commodity and everyone wants him and everyone knows it.

Is he taking visits ..or his family taking visits?

Family. His QB son has been to LSU twice and his daughter dates an LSU linebacker. His wife was a Gator cheerleader. Reality TV/soap opera vibes for sure

[spacemonkey]

It’s funny that he is basically taking official visits to the campus and they are offering contracts, which is exactly what he will be doing to portal recruits soon. I don’t recall a situation as interesting as this where there is one known hot commodity and everyone wants him and everyone knows it.

Is he taking visits ..or his family taking visits?

Good question. It appears just his family, led by his ex-wife who is now his girlfriend.

Sounds like she entered the transfer portal and decided she had a better deal at home.

Now that is funny. I literally laughed out loud.

[WASU 93]

It’s funny that he is basically taking official visits to the campus and they are offering contracts, which is exactly what he will be doing to portal recruits soon. I don’t recall a situation as interesting as this where there is one known hot commodity and everyone wants him and everyone knows it.

Is he taking visits ..or his family taking visits?

Good question. It appears just his family, led by his ex-wife who is now his girlfriend.

Reality TV

There’s a Tim Wilson song in there somewhere

[AppDub]

Wonder if Kiffin would be interested in the lovely Blue Ridge Mountains for pennies on the dollar of what he is being offered in the top tier of college football? Sarcasm intended.

[Apptiger]

Wonder if Kiffin would be interested in the lovely Blue Ridge Mountains for pennies on the dollar of what he is being offered in the top tier of college football? Sarcasm intended.

He said money is not a motivator lol. Hey we can dream right? We would need to add about 15 mil a year in player money but other than that lol

[AppDub]

Wonder if Kiffin would be interested in the lovely Blue Ridge Mountains for pennies on the dollar of what he is being offered in the top tier of college football? Sarcasm intended.

He said money is not a motivator lol. Hey we can dream right? We would need to add about 15 mil a year in player money but other than that lol

So your saying there's a chance? I love it!!!!!!

[EastHallApp]

It’s funny that he is basically taking official visits to the campus and they are offering contracts, which is exactly what he will be doing to portal recruits soon. I don’t recall a situation as interesting as this where there is one known hot commodity and everyone wants him and everyone knows it.

Is he taking visits ..or his family taking visits?

Good question. It appears just his family, led by his ex-wife who is now his girlfriend.

Sounds like she entered the transfer portal and decided she had a better deal at home.

Honestly, Kiffin did kind of seem like sort of a man-child in his 30s who seems to have belatedly done some growing up. He's certainly rehabbed his reputation as a coach; maybe he did the same as a man?

[MrCraig]

Mullen was mentioned above, and I think Kiffin could learn a lot from Dan. Dan Mullen is arguably the best coach Mississippi State ever had. Same could be said about Kiffin and Ole Miss. For both of them, staying in Mississippi and winning 8-10 games consistently with some playoff appearances over the next 10-15 years would elevate them to legend status. If Kiffin stays at Ole Miss and continues to win (like Mullen should've at MSU), they'll build a statue of him outside the stadium. Might even name the stadium after him if he wins a title or two.

OR he can go to LSU and get mired in political backbiting, OR go to Florida and never be good enough because he isn't Steve Spurrier.

[t4pizza]

Traditionally speaking, both LSU and UF are better than Ole Miss. But we aren't living in a traditional time. Just look at this year, and the entire time he has been at Ole Miss, Lane has more wins than LSU or UF coaches and he is beloved. If he stays at Ole Miss, he likely gets a statute and is ultimately the winningest coach in their history. At UF and LSU, it is Natty or bust. Heck, even if you win a Natty at UF you don't get a statute. There are only 3, Spurrier, Weurfell, Tebow and they all won Heismans and a Natty (Spurrier got the Natty as a coach), there is not statute for Meyer and he isn't even liked or missed down there despite winning 2 nattys for them. Gainesville is actually a great college town but the expectation of UF fans is a tad bit unrealistic, they ran Dan Mullen out of town and he holds the third highest winning percentage of all UF coaches. He was doing really good, hit a bad 3-5 stretch and found himself out of a job. That type of stuff won't ever happen at Ole Miss, he can continue to win 10 games in a row and be the toast of the town. If I were him I would stay put.

Mullen got let go at UF because he hated recruiting and avoided it. It started to show. His best years there were his first few and with players recruited by others. The program was on a downward slide and they decided 13-10 over his last two years and 5-6 his last year was enough.
There was a lot going on with Urban behind the scenes. I won't go into details mostly because they are not public and unverified but.. Winning can compensate for a lot.

There is a lot of political type stuff at LSU but overall I think LSU would be a better job. Before Brian Kelly, the last three coaches LSU had won Natty's. Pretty sure Kiffin is a better coach than Les Miles and Orgeron. It has taken hall of fame caliber coaches to win it at Florida. He doesn't have as much in state recruiting competition in LA either.

Kiffin is young, he would have a chance to be THE legend at LSU. I think exceeding Saban would appeal to Kiffin but then again, he has matured.
Kiffin seems to like pro ball and could bolt from LSU like he has from everywhere else. He is already a "legend" in Oxford but most think he has taken them as far as anyone can.

It has been interesting to watch, we'll have news in the next week or so if the Ole Miss ultimatum story is true.

That recruiting angle was a lazy excuse in the media, go back and look at his recruiting classes (ranked 14, 9,8,12), all on par or better than with Napier (19,13,14,10) who they brought in to recruit. Also, Mullen didn't have the football center when he was recruiting and that is a huge bonus because that thing is sweet. The media created the "hates recruiting" narrative from a frustrated Mullen, when he was upset after the last Georgia loss, and someone asked him about recruiting and he flippantly said something to the effect that 'recruiting was for the off season and they were still playing football'. Kirby jumped on that, his interview followed Mullens, and said that he recruited everyday and the media ran with it and said Mullen hated recruiting, it just wasn't true. Yes, it was a down year and half (ever since the LSU shoe episode) for Mullen and people were especially upset because everyone thought he should play Richardson and he wasn't playing, he didn't play him bc despite being an awesome athlete, he just isn't that great at QB especially at that point (I think everyone has seen that to be the case). In 2020 he was 8-4,coming off an 11-2 season that they played Bama for the SEC championship, he then lost most of those guys off the team and in 2020 the transfer portal wasn't in full swing so replacing guys took longer. In 2021 he was fired at 5-6. Interesting enough, Napier's best season was 8-5 (his only winning season) in 2024 and Strickland let him stay on after that. But the fact is that Mullen is still the third winningest percentile coach in UF history and they canned him.

I know a lot of the issues with Meyer, he was a jerk and not good to anyone including large boosters, alumni, former QB club presidents, kids at his football camp (my son included in that list) the list goes on and on (among other things). Like you, I have kids that went to UF (4 have at least 1 degree from there), plus my wife, brother in law, father in law, and nephew. Being down here, I am far closer to the UF program than App State's program.

I agree that LSU is the best of the jobs, but when that Governor opens his mouth it sure doesn't make it sound like a place a top coach wants to go and deal with. I think both jobs are "better" on paper but he has it rolling at Ole Miss and quality of life has to mean something at some point. He is back with his wife, watches his son play QB for his high school on Friday nights, gets to interact with his daughter who is a junior at Ole Miss, and really avoids any major news outlets unless he wants to be on. Not sure either LSU or UF will give him the same type of quality of life and that is coming from a guy who paid UF lots of money and roots for them every weekend.

Interesting also that Kiffin has no rebuked the report of an ultimatum given to him by the AD. I first heard that as a theory from Josh Pate about what he would do if he was the Ole Miss AD. I think some irresponsible members of the media, took that idea and ran with it like it was news instead of the commentary that it was. Either way, Kiffin hasn't been given an ultimatum.