Paul Finebaum explains why Lane Kiffin could be on the move, names key suitor

Lane Kiffin has already made his rounds across the college football world. The current Ole Miss head coach has spent 11 years as the leader of a program, and those 11 years have been split up between four different schools. Now, speculation is ramping up that Kiffin could again be on the move at season’s end. SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum senses an “uneasiness” regarding Kiffin at Ole Miss.

Kiffin is coming off of an impressive victory over Kentucky in Week 5. The Rebels were on the right side of a few fortunate bounces, but ultimately came away with a 22-19 victory. Ole Miss sits at No. 9 in the latest AP Top 25 poll, but that hasn’t slowed down the talk about Kiffin’s future.

Paul Finebaum joined Matt Barrie on ESPN’s college football Week 5 recap, where the discussion quickly took a turn towards Kiffin’s current situation.

“Yeah, here’s the key right now – and Lane is always an enigma,” Finebaum said of Kiffin. “He says the right things. But I will say this, Matt. I sense an uneasiness there in talking to Lane Kiffin about NIL. He had just come from a Collective press conference, probably not what you want to do on the Friday before a big game. But that’s a necessity. There was a big donors get together at the stadium on Friday night and Ole Miss is trying to fight back to hang with the usual suspects and I wonder whether they can or not because you have to.”

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Kiffin’s next stop could be another team in the SEC

Bryan Harsin’s days as Auburn‘s head coach are believed to be numbered, with his dismissal expected at any point between now and the end of the season. When that job inevitably opens up, Kiffin’s name is sure to come up as a candidate.

Finebaum isn’t sure whether or not Kiffin is going to be in the “transfer portal” amongst coaches at the season’s end, but he does know that Auburn will have interest, as will many other teams with openings across the country.

“And I think Kiffin – this is a sense – I sense a little frustration from him,” added Finebaum. “So what does that mean? Is Lane in the portal after the season? You know Auburn’s coming after him. There will be others that come after him. And while most will say conventional wisdom would indicate he’s not leaving, I’m not in the conventional wisdom train. I’m not positive about that.”

After starting off 5-0 this season with Ole Miss, Kiffin has coached to a 20-8 overall record in three years with the Rebels. Ole Miss lost in the Sugar Bowl last season. In his career, the self-proclaimed portal king has an overall record of 82-42, including a 3-3 mark in bowl games.