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At least for one more week, Lane Kiffin will be the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels football team. Where will Kiffin coach beyond that? Well, nobody seems to know.
The LSU Tigers have reportedly made Kiffin a contract offer valued at $90, while the Florida Gators also lurk in the background. Meanwhile, Kiffin has continued to do what he does best, cryptically tweet his way through the entire saga.
Former Alabama coaching legend Nick Saban (who, notably, also won a national championship at LSU) is sick of the whole thing. But he doesn’t blame Kiffin at all.
“This is not a Lane Kiffin Conundrum, this is a College Football conundrum” – Saban
When are we as a society going to stop being dumb and just make this man the true commissioner of College Football? pic.twitter.com/cZbchpHFoq
— Nick Perkins (@NickyPerkss) November 22, 2025
Nick Saban Removes Blame From Lane Kiffin For Coaching Search Chaos
“This is not a Lane Kiffin conundrum,” Saban said on Saturday’s episode of College GameDay. “This is a college football conundrum, and we need some leadership to step up and change the rules
“Everybody should be thinking about the players,” Saban said. “Players should be able to play for their coach for the entire season. Players shouldn’t be penalized if a coach leaves, because the committee has the opportunity, if a player or coach doesn’t participate, they can sink you in the rankings … We should match the academic calendar with the football calendar.”
Saban makes some fair points. The fact that the transfer portal window overlaps with the ned of the College Football Playoff is absolutely ridiculous. It creates urgency in the hiring process. It forces coaches to move more quickly with regard to decision-making on their future, and it just generally creates a mess.”
But Kiffin could just as easily shut this all down by simply making a decision. And there’s not really a way to realign the season calendar without shrinking the number of games, which isn’t going to happen.
Saban’s stance landed him in hot water on social media.
“It’s also a Lane Kiffin conundrum, Nick, and as the guy who had to fire him BEFORE THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME because he was so distracted, you should know better,” Dan Wolken of Yahoo Sports wrote.
“How many national media people have been on Lane Kiffin’s side throughout this bulls—? How many of those national media people used to employ or still employ Jimmy Sexton as their agent?” asked one fan.
Sexton, of course, is the sport’s most powerful agent, who represents both Saban and Kiffin (as well as several other big-name coaches on the market).
So Saban’s point may not be wrong. But he is more than a little bit of a flawed messenger.