For everyone who says Kiffin is waiting on a bigger school, why can't he wait at Auburn for a year or two and make more money? You haven't seen a meltdown like the day Bama hires the coach away from Auburn. That might break the internet.
He can, but presumably Auburn is going to negotiate a hefty buyout before committing that type of money. And he may be concerned that ADs will be hesitant to hire somebody that is now leaving an almost blue blood for the second time before finishing even two years of a contract. And if he goes and Auburn boosters undercut him, he may end up in a toxic situation and no longer desirable to true blue bloods.
The flipside is if he steps back at Oxford, that could hurt him with blue bloods although I don't think that's really a concern. As long as he doesn't fall off a cliff, taking a step back at Ole Miss isn't going to hurt his stock that much.
I certainly won't be surprised to see Lane go to Auburn. Auburn can pay and you can win a championship at Auburn, so that may be all Lane is looking for to jump ship. But if I were Lane, I'd rather be at A&M and be at the little brother school in a state with the resources of Texas than be at the little brother school in a state with the resources of Alabama. It'd be hard to turn down guaranteed money from Auburn, but it'd at least be tempting to pass in hopes that a true blue blood job becomes available.