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Mark Schlabach
Ole Miss soccer followers — and Florida and LSU followers — must wait one other eight days to study the place Lane Kiffin will coach past this season.
Ole Miss vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics Keith Carter stated Friday that an announcement about Kiffin’s future will come the day after the No. 6 Rebels play rival Mississippi State within the Egg Bowl in Starkville on Nov. 28.
Kiffin, who’s in his sixth season at Ole Miss, is reportedly contemplating job provides at SEC rivals Florida and LSU.
The Rebels had provided Kiffin a prolonged extension with a wage akin to these the Tigers and Gators are providing him, sources instructed ESPN.
Kiffin met with Carter and Ole Miss chancellor Glenn Boyce on Friday.
“Coach Kiffin and I’ve had many pointed and optimistic conversations relating to his future at Ole Miss, together with assembly at present with Chancellor Boyce,” Carter stated. “Whereas we talk about subsequent steps, we all know we can not lose sight of what’s most essential — our sixth-ranked crew that’s poised to complete the common season in historic trend.”
Kiffin, 50, has guided the Rebels to not less than 10 victories in 4 of the previous 5 seasons. He has a 54-19 file at Ole Miss.
On Sunday, Kiffin’s ex-wife, Layla; his son, Knox; and the son of Kiffin’s brother, Chris, visited Gainesville, Florida. Layla and different members of the family visited the LSU campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the subsequent day.
With a 10-1 file this season, the Rebels are in place to make their first CFP look and probably host a first-round recreation at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Dec. 19 or 20.
“Regardless of the surface noise, Coach Kiffin is concentrated on getting ready our crew for the Egg Bowl, and collectively, we wish to be certain that our gamers and coaches can focus totally on subsequent Friday’s recreation,” Carter stated. “This crew is on the cusp of an unprecedented season, and it is crucial they really feel the help of the Ole Miss household within the week forward.”
Carter, a former Ole Miss basketball participant who has been in command of the athletics division since 2019, pushed Kiffin for readability about his future and needed a call by the tip of this week, sources near the matter instructed ESPN earlier this week.
Ole Miss directors did not need the lingering uncertainty surrounding Kiffin’s future to develop into an excessive amount of of a distraction earlier than the Rebels performed their largest rivalry recreation. Additionally they needed time to arrange for a doable transition to an interim coach earlier than the CFP and a seek for Kiffin’s substitute if he decides to depart.
The Rebels wish to keep away from a state of affairs just like former Ole Miss coach Tommy Tuberville’s ugly departure to Auburn in 1998. Whereas hypothesis about Tuberville’s future heated up, the Rebels misplaced their final three video games, together with a 28-6 defeat towards Mississippi State at residence.
After the common season ended, Tuberville stated on his weekly radio present, “They’re going to have to hold me out of right here in a pine field.”
Tuberville left for Auburn two days later.
