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ESPN broadcaster details pre-game conversation with Lane Kiffin, addresses coaching carousel rumors

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby:On3 Staff Report•11/24/22
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Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin holds a football and surveys pregame warmups before the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State on Nov. 24, 2022. (Justin Ford / Getty Images)

Mississippi State and Ole Miss are ready for kickoff in the annual Egg Bowl, looking to cap the season with a win over a hated rival. But for the Rebels faithful, Lane Kiffin and the Auburn job are a significant topic (and potential distraction).

Amid reports Auburn has targeted Kiffin for its open job and Kiffin refuting a report he planned to take the Tigers gig following the Egg Bowl, ESPN’s broadcast crew chimed in with the latest.

Commentator Matt Barrie provided some details from a production-meeting discussion with Kiffin on Friday.

“If you’ve been around social media, you’ve been around this part of the country, you know the story with Ole Miss by now,” Barrie said on the air. “Their head coach Lane Kiffin and his connection to the Auburn job.

“We are not here to speculate tonight, we are not here to validate Internet reports. All we can do is tell you is what Lane told us in our meeting yesterday. He looked us in the eye and said there has been no job taken and there has been no discussions about taking another job.”

Does that mean Kiffin won’t take the Auburn job?

Who really knows? But everything Kiffin is telling people right now is that nothing has been done yet no matter what is being reported.

“That is what Lane told us in our meeting,” Barrie finished.

With rumors about Auburn job swirling, Lane Kiffin reassured Ole Miss players

The latest twist in the Lane Kiffin Auburn saga was a message the Ole Miss head coach relayed to his players on Wednesday night.

According to a report by On3’s Matt Zenitz, Kiffin told players that ‘unless something significantly changes, he’s planning on staying as the head coach of the Rebels.’

That came after a report surfaced that Kiffin shot down, indicatting he planned to resign to take the Auburn job. Kiffin then trolled the reporter making that claim.

How will the saga play out? That remains to be seen.

In the meantime, the Egg Bowl is underway on ESPN, with both programs looking to cap the regular-season with a win that would boost its bowl outlook.