Lane Kiffin is always the one to proudly tout his mentor Nick Saban's lessons and how it has always turned out to be good results for him.
That's why it's about time he took Saban's word for all the coaching rumors surrounding him.
Being in talks to be the next head coach himself at Florida or LSU, Nick Saban felt that the much-hyped vacant positions at Florida or LSU were rather subpar.
“That’s changed dramatically, the whole question of what constitutes the best job,” Saban told ON3. “What used to make a job great was facilities, fan support, good academic support, recruiting base and being able to create value for the players. Now that has been minimized to how much money do you have to spend on building a roster."
“That is the most important thing by far.”
Never the one to beat around the bush, Saban spelled it out for Kiffin that Florida and LSU are not "better" than his current job.
"Jobs that weren’t great jobs before are now. Lane is the first name up for Florida and the first name up for LSU, but I think you can have a long debate on whether either one of those jobs is actually better than the job he has now because he has some guys over there at Ole Miss that give him pretty much whatever he wants from a roster standpoint," Saban said.
"He may not necessarily have the same thing at Florida or LSU. So you look at these jobs differently now."
Nick Saban has never minced words. The most important factor in what makes a great coaching job in today’s game: Straight cash to build a roster. https://t.co/H5c2NWeZpP
— Chris Low (@clowfb) October 29, 2025
To add to Saban's point, Kiffin's roster at Ole Miss is in a drivers seat to the college football playoffs at 7-1 and a very doable schedule.
Kiffin leaving for either Florida or LSU, where he will have to build a team from almost scratch, would make no sense, especially since he is so close to winning a national championship with the Rebels.
It looks like Kiffin has listened to Saban's advice for now, but only time will tell whether he truly believes in it.