Lane Kiffin appears to be having the time of his life, and with good reason.
Ole Miss is 10-1 and an 11-win regular season is in sight, provided they can take care of business next week in the Egg Bowl. Their only loss came against Georgia earlier this year, a defeat that is impressive on paper given where the Bulldogs stand in the rankings, and as we learned this week from the College Football Playoff Selection Committee quality losses matter. A spot in the College Football Playoff is all but guaranteed, and Ole Miss could reach the SEC Championship Game if things break their way over the final two weeks.
They have also won 10 or more games in three consecutive seasons under his watch, a first in school history.
But as the success builds on the field, the storm clouds swirl away from the gridiron. Anytime a coach has success, rumors of a new job follow. Those are magnified when it is Kiffin, even more so when the potential jobs are two of college football’s biggest programs: Florida and LSU.
Through it all Kiffin is trying to keep to his habits, which include morning yoga and posting on social media. Kiffin is a poster’s poster, sharing anything and everything on Instagram. The coach has even shared images that remind you of something you might see on the clearance table at your local Home Goods, as he did this morning when he shared this from Cute Blessings:
But as he posts, he also stands at a crossroads in his career. Does he stay in Oxford? Leave for presumably greener pastures?
It is a decision that may define his legacy.
That legacy, to date, has been defined by success and setbacks. He was hired by Al Davis to become the youngest head coach in Oakland Raiders history, taking over a storied franchise when he was just 31 years old. But that relationship soured quickly, and the legendary owner fired Kiffin early in this second season, blasting him in a subsequent press conference as a “professional liar,” among other things.
“I think he conned me like he conned all you people,” Davis said back in 2008.
Other stops followed, starting with Tennessee, where he departed after just one season. Then came USC, where he was fired at the airport after a 3-2 start and watched the team bus roll away without him on it, but with his bags still inside it. A stint as the offensive coordinator at Alabama under Nick Saban ended days shy of a National Championship Game, as the legendary head coach announced a mutual parting of the ways so Kiffin could focus on taking over at Florida Atlantic.
“Kiffin is about the only coach who could be fired from a job that he’d already quit,“ wrote ESPN’s Mark Schlabach at the time.
During his three years at FAU, Kiffin led the Owls to a pair of ten-win seasons. But the SEC came calling again, the Kiffin was ready to answer the phone. In 2020 he was on his way to Oxford, set to take over an Ole Miss program that had not been above .500 since 2015.
But now, with the team he build on the verge of perhaps its greatest triumph in school history, another legacy-defining moment is in front of Kiffin. Does he leave Oxford behind — and perhaps prove Davis right as Dan Wetzel posited — or stay at Ole Miss, having found where he belongs?
Rumors of a potential move to either Baton Rouge or Gainesville have swirled in recent days, with reports of family members visiting both areas and even a rumored call with the governor of Louisiana, who injected himself into the LSU coaching search after the firing of Brian Kelly. Kiffin did his best to avoid those subjects during Wednesday’s SEC media call.
“Yeah, like I said, I’m not getting on any speculation or stories of things having to do with with other jobs,“ said Kiffin when asked about family members taking trips to Gainesville and Baton Rouge. ”Said that about ten times, but I understand you’ve got to ask them.“
“I wouldn’t comment on that either way, so I’m not,“ said Kiffin when asked about a rumored phone call with Governor Jeff Landry.
Kiffin even brushed aside reports that the school had given him an ultimatum of next week’s Egg Bowl for a decision about his future.
“Yeah, I’m going to stay on what I’ve done for six years, which isn’t talk about other jobs in that situation,” started Kiffin. “And, [Ole Miss Athletic Director Keith Carter] and I, I’ve seen him twice already today. Keith and I have a great relationship. We communicate daily on a lot of things and I love it here. And it’s been amazing. And we’re in the, you know, in a season that’s the greatest run in the history of Ole Miss at this point, having never been at this point. So, I think it’s really exciting. I think Saturday night was amazing.
“And so I’m just living in the moment that it’s amazing. And our players are too, you know, I see their joy about the practice season where they’re at and have so much on the line. It’s just awesome to be a part of.”
At some point, Kiffin will need to answer this questions not with words, but actions. And it comes down to this: What does he want his legacy to be? Is what he has already built in Oxford enough? Or does building something even bigger, given the potential resources available, at LSU or Florida what he truly wants?
That question of his legacy was put to him by USA Today’s Blake Toppmeyer, at the outset of Wednesday’s session, and he was perhaps not ready for it.
“That’s a good one, Blake … I wasn’t ready for that.
“I don’t know, I would have to have more time to think about that, to make a public statement on that. I love that I feel like my story, what I’ve gone through, my experiences are able to impact people.
“And I remember speaking at my dad’s funeral and so many people from so many places sending cards, coming down, saying things about his impact on them. And I was like, God, that’s what I hope for. And so I guess I don’t have the full answer because you’re probably thinking more coaching. I’m thinking more of the legacy that you leave with the people you connect with and the ability to help them through things,” concluded Kiffin.
Kiffin has already lived a lifetime within the game of football. Yet, at just 50 years old, he has another lifetime left to go. Still, this is a time in someone’s life when they truly start to wonder about what it is they have done, and what their legacy will be.
As someone on the cusp of that milestone birthday, it is a feeling I know well.
His journey has seen peaks and valleys, and perhaps Oxford is where he has found his level, where he has found his place. A home where he can continue to build a program and help people through things, as he said on Wednesday.
Or perhaps he thinks Gainesville or Baton Rouge offer a bigger, and better, platform to do just that.
It will not be an easy decision. Leave Ole Miss and you burn that bridge forever. Spurn LSU and Florida and those doors may close forever.
Perhaps he thinks that he can thread a needle, remain at Ole Miss through the rest of this season and lead them to a title, before departing for greener pastures. What makes that tough is the fact that time marches on and programs might not wait. The high school signing period begins on December 3. The transfer window opens on January 2.
The second-round College Football Playoff games begin on New Year’s Eve.
That might be too narrow a window to thread.
But if we can take a lesson from Cute Blessings, no matter what he does, Kiffin can “stay positive and embrace the day with gratitude.“
While posting through it all.
