Lane Kiffin quips Bruce Pearl cemented he made the right decision staying at Ole Miss vs. leaving for Auburn

This winter, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin was centerstage in the Auburn coaching search after they let Kevin Steele go before he even finished his second season. But with Kiffin’s comeback and rise of the ranks, plus his admirable success in three years in Oxford so far, the Tigers saw a real solid candidate and someone with proven SEC success in Kiffin. Bagging him would have been a no-brainer for Auburn brass.

Alas, Lane Kiffin ultimately stayed put and remained with the Rebels. At this year’s SEC spring meetings down in Destin, FL, the Auburn job was brought back up, with one reporter asking if he has any lingering thoughts or regrets with his decision to pass it up.

Per Kiffin, that’s not how he likes to look at his decisions.

“Yeah, I’ve always — but especially as I got I’ve gotten older — I don’t worry about things I can’t control, and one is that once you make a decision, you’re not going back,” explained the Rebel head coach. “So, you know, to sit around and think about it — I really have never thought about it after that day. Because it’s just a decision that you make. And so, I’ve never been like…well, what if?

However, he did get a jab from Auburn hoops coach Bruce Pearl this week.

“Except when Bruce Pearl interrupted my dinner two nights ago down here to say that we could’ve been buddies again,” which prompted a laugh from the small crowd. Of course, Kiffin’s lone year as Tennessee head coach also coincided with Pearl’s time there.

Kiffin then went on to point out the biggest decider in his choice to stay in Oxford: his daughter.

“But other than that, I really don’t spend any time on that. And also, I have a daily reminder with a daughter that that lives with me and I don’t have to move away from and not just lives with me now, but is going to Ole Miss. (She) makes that pretty easy. An analytical guy like me doesn’t evaluate my decisions. Not once you already made them.”

It’s hard to move away from family, and especially your own daughter, when she’s also set to attend the college you coach at. For that reason, along with some others, Lane Kiffin is back in the saddle for year four as the Rebel head man and with no regrets in the rearview mirror.