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Lane Kiffin may or may not be the head football coach at Ole Miss in 2026. Rumors continue to circulate surrounding his future in Oxford.
Is he committed to the Rebels, or will he bolt for an SEC rival? The coach refuses to definitively rule out the possibility of a departure.
Kiffin appears set to make his first College Football Playoff appearance with the program. At 10-1, Ole Miss just needs to knock off Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl to effectively secure a spot.
As he continues to pursue that postseason goal, off the field distractions mount.
Where will Lane Kiffin coach in 2026?
He’s been linked to jobs at LSU, Auburn, and Florida following midseason firings of Brian Kelly, Hugh Freeze, and Billy Napier. The Gators are the team to beat in the eyes of many.
Will he stay at Ole Miss? Will he leave for Gainesville? There are points being made for both sides.
Some say Florida is a better college football job. The ceiling is higher for a program with three national titles.
Others believe Kiffin’s made Ole Miss a more attractive job. He can build on momentum after his third straight 10-win season rather than become the Gators’ fifth coach in the last 15 years.
Ole Miss is undoubtedly in a better current situation, but the championship history that Florida offers could make the decision more difficult.
With all of that being said, no one truly has a read on where Lane Kiffin stands. An attempt to gain clarity was tried after the Rebels’ 34-24 win over the Gators on Saturday. Nothing was gained, nor lost.
Kiffin will not comment.
Do you anticipate being head coach at Ole Miss next year?
Lane Kiffin: “I love what we are doing here, today was awesome.
“I don’t talk about that stuff.
“To even talk about it right now would be so disrespectful to our players and how well they played today.” pic.twitter.com/pAo9r5TzPT
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) November 16, 2025
“I love what we are doing here. Today was awesome,” he said after the win. “To even talk about it right now would be so disrespectful to our players and how well they played today.”
Kiffin closed with, “We’ve got a lot of things going here, and I love it here.”
Still, he would not deny Florida interest. Ole Miss fans hoped he would take the opportunity to shut down the possibility of a departure. To their dismay, he didn’t.
Kiffin’s comments offered a stark contrast to actions taken at SEC rival Texas A&M. Soon after the Aggies’ historic comeback win against South Carolina, Mike Elko signed an extension.
He plans to stay in College Station. His loyalty to the program was on full display.
Prominent Ole Miss donor Tyler Jordan, the founder of Realtree, praised that commitment. His followers wished Lane Kiffin would take note.
— Tyler Jordan (@TylerJordan) November 16, 2025
Those critics included Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson, who had the following to say on X after Ole Miss’s latest victory.
Couldn’t agree more. At some point, it’d be nice for our current coach to reciprocate the love and gratitude shown by our administration, players, fan base, and collective. It just shouldn’t be this hard.
It has been reported that Kiffin is working on a contract extension to remain at the university. To this point, a deal has not officially been done.
Kiffin has not commented on job speculation in the past. Based on his most recent press conference, he does not intend to do so moving forward.
Fans in Mississippi will have to wait until the offseason to get a better read on the coach’s intentions. For some, that’s proving frustrating.