Lane Kiffin opens up on criticism after rebuffing Auburn to stay at Ole Miss

Lane Kiffin ultimately decided to stay at Ole Miss towards the end of last season. But after Auburn showed a lot of interest, Kiffin said it probably wasn’t handled the best, considering the circumstances.

The Rebels coach admitted to ESPN he struggled with the criticism when he weighed the decision between the Tigers and staying put. Kiffin told his team before the rivalry game against Mississippi State.

But in the end, Ole Miss ended the year with four straight losses. Some chalked it up to the distractions surrounding the head coach.

“We screw up all the time,” Kiffin said. “But when you think you’re doing the right thing and then you’re really criticized for it — especially by your own people — I struggled with that because I feel like I went through a decision-making process that you’re supposed to go through. I mean, you got to decide. It’s your life and your family’s life.”

Kiffin managed to avoid the Auburn questions even immediately after the Tigers fired Bryan Harsin in October. He didn’t reveal thoughts or plans in any way.

“I felt that it would have been a distraction to make this big statement 24 hours before the game and making it about me,” Kiffin said. “So, I thought I was doing the right thing by saying, ‘OK, I’m going to avoid making this about me, you guys go play. But just so you know, you don’t have to sit here and worry that your coach is leaving tomorrow after the game or something. I’m staying, I just haven’t made it known publicly.’ I told them thinking that’s what obviously matters the most, and because we lost it wasn’t done right. If we won, nobody would’ve cared.”

Auburn eventually landed on Hugh Freeze, who had great success at Liberty University.

Kiffin is 23-13 in three years at Ole Miss and it’s no secret he made quite the impact on the program already. Despite the 1-2 record in bowl games, Kiffin led Ole Miss to 10 wins in 2021 and No. 11 ranking at season’s end.

There was a bit of a retooling for Kiffin and Ole Miss going into 2023. The team attacked the transfer portal and the quarterback department has a bevy of talented signal callers.

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They brought in former Oklahoma State and All-Big 12 quarterback Spencer Sanders, former LSU four-star Walker Howard and former USC quarterback Jaxson Dart, who came over last season amid the Trojans’ hire of Lincoln Riley.