Lane Kiffin informs Ole Miss he is staying as Auburn shifts coaching search
In the wake of Ole Miss’ 24-22 Egg Bowl loss to Mississippi State on Thursday Lane Kiffin gave the most affirmation he is going to remain the Rebels head coach for at least another year.
Friday was very quiet on that front and nothing new emerged to shift Kiffin’s stance from the night before. Saturday saw some further affirmation as reports came out backing what the Ole Miss coach said Thanskgiving night.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that Kiffin’s candidacy for Auburn’s open head coaching job had “cooled” in the last 24 hours and officials on the Plains were moving on to another candidate on the list.
Thame’s tweet corroborated what ESPN’s Chris Low also reported on Saturday morning, that Kiffin informed Ole Miss officials of his decision to remain in Oxford.
The Ole Miss Spirit confirmed these reports with its sources and that Auburn is targeting Hugh Freeze as its next head coach.
Saturday’s report potentially bookends a week that saw the Kiffin – Auburn saga reach its boiling point on Monday.
Hours after Kiffin met with the media for his weekly press conference on Monday, WCBI’s Jon Sokoloff tweeted that Kiffin was set to step down as Ole Miss’ head coach after three seasons on Friday and accept the Auburn job, yet no offer had been made at that time.
As the week went on it caused for Kiffin — who reacted to the tweet with his own set of tweets — to have to address his team in the wake of Sokoloff’s report.
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Kiffin also addressed the week’s events on Thursday with the media.
“I think when it was falsely reported by Jon (Sokoloff), who’s now famous, congratulations,” Kiffin said. “You can just write whatever you want. I would do it, too, I think, because you’re never held accountable, and you get to become famous. Maybe you’ll be right.
““Jon did it (and) I had to have a team meeting to say his article was wrong. We love these unnamed sources.”
There has been no official word from Ole Miss, though nothing would need to be announced unless Kiffin signs a new extension or contract.
Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter presented Kiffin and his agent Jimmy Sexton with a new contract offer the week before the Arkansas game.
