Lane Kiffin was in a very similar yet miles apart situation when Nick Saban fired him from Alabama back in 2017.
Different because he got to coach in the College Football Playoff at Alabama, just not the National Championship. And similar because the distractions from his interest in another school cost him his job then.
Almost a decade later, Kiffin is in a very similar precarious spot between two programs: his current school Ole Miss and LSU.
The last time it happened, Kiffin followed his heart that lead him to Florida Atlantic. Which is why Saban wants Kiffin to listen to his heart this time around as well to make the final call.
Nick Saban shares personal experience to help Lane Kiffin
“I try to give him my perspective from my experience,” Saban said during a Wednesday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
He explained via a personal anecdote from his coaching days.
“I’ve been in a few situations like this, whether it was when I was the defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns going to– I stayed there and finished the season, hired five guys to run the Michigan State program while we finished the last four or five games of the year with the Browns and went to the playoffs."
"So, I think everybody has to manage their situation relative to where their heart is and what they feel.”
There can be numerous interpretations of Kiffin's silence on the coaching carousel rumors through all these weeks, including one where Kiffin doesn't want to talk about any other program and simply focus on Ole Miss's season.
But the tiringly dragged-out nature of his ambiguity, making him consider another school, makes this the best and most believable one.
Saturday, the day following the Egg Bowl, will be the day we know where Kiffin's heart truly is.