It's that time of the year again. As the 2025 coaching carousel spins, Lane Kiffin's name continues to pop up in almost every head copaching vacancy available on the market.
And as usual, whether or not he will leave remains the question. Just that this time around, the rumors are much more intense. Earlier, they were exclusive to Florida, but after Brian Kelly's firing, LSU has also entered the chat.
Joel Klatt on why Lane Kiffin might leave for LSU
Fox Sports' Joel Klatt feels there is a particular reason why Kiffin might think of choosing LSU over Ole Miss.
"LSU is intriguing," Klatt said on Monday's episode of The Joel Klatt Show. "I think LSU is a step above Ole Miss."
"You have to overachieve at Ole Miss. You’ve got to do things the program has never done to reach your ultimate goals and the top end of college football. In a lot of respects, the best years of Ole Miss football are what we’re seeing right now."
Klatt got the latter part right. Ole Miss football is indeed seeing some of its golden years under Kiffin as 7-1 program eight games into the season. Their solid college football playoff chances are even starting to create a buzz surrounding them as a potential national championship contender in the following years, if not this year.
And that is one of the primary reasons why Kiffin may not even consider another job at this moment. Ever since he got hired in 2020, Kiffin has focused on building the roster he has this season.
It hardly makes sense for him to go someplace else and build an entirely new roster from scratch and turn a losing program around, instead of winning a national championship with Ole Miss.
Fox Sports' analyst Colin Cowherd shared a similar feeling, saying Kiffin won't leave.
"I would stay because I think he’s viewed as the architect of the next 10 years," Cowherd said of Kiffin. "He has bounced around a lot, and because of his personality and what he’s done, it’s a near-perfect fit."
Whether Kiffin leaves or not will surely keep the Ole Miss fans on their toes, but more importantly, they need Kiffin's squad to continue winning to actually reach the college football playoffs.
The Rebels face South Carolina next on Nov. 1.