The Ole Miss Rebels are squarely in the midst of the College Football Playoff. Led by head coach Lane Kiffin, the team is 10-1 and currently ranked No. 6 in the polls. Its lone defeat came on the road to the Georgia Bulldogs, an eight-point loss to a team now ranked fourth nationally. But even if Ole Miss wins out, it could potentially suffer another devastating loss: Kiffin may be heading to another SEC school.
Multiple reports have come out that the LSU Tigers offered Kiffin a massive deal to coach in Baton Rouge. The LSU offer is reportedly full of incentives and worth more than $90 million over seven seasons. That would put Kiffin in the conversation as the highest-paid coach in college football.
The reported deal also includes at least $25 million in name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals and revenue share roster investments. In an era where players are constantly entering the portal to switch schools, having a healthy budget to welcome transfers is a big selling point.
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LSU has been mired in a lawsuit with former head coach Brian Kelly. The school fired Kelly after a lackluster start to the season. Kelly is seeking his full buyout, which would be $54 million. That means the Tigers could be on the hook for $144 million in salary and buyout costs alone between those two coaches. That's not even considering the NIL money and salaries for assistant coaches, or the maintenance and upgrades to the fields, practice facilities, and workout equipment.
Kiffin began his head coaching career with one-and-a-quarter lackluster seasons with the then-Oakland Raiders. He's seen better success at the collegiate level. He led USC to a 10-win season in 2011 and finished two of his three seasons at Florida Atlantic with double-digit victories. Kiffin has coached the Rebels since the 2020 season. The school has won at least 10 games four times (including this season), and the Rebels finished each of those years ranked 13th or better.
Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter said that the school would make an announcement about Kiffin's future on November 29, the day after Ole Miss plays Mississippi State in the annual Egg Bowl.
The Rebels handed LSU its first loss of the year back on September 27. That likely wasn't as big a deal as LSU's later losses to Vanderbilt and a blowout defeat against Texas A&M. Still, if Kiffin takes the Tigers job, we can look at the Ole Miss victory as the catalyst to everything coming together.
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