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Lane Kiffin could be a very rich man, very soon. The Ole Miss leader has become a hot commodity on the head coaching market this season.
After spending the last three years in Oxford, he’s now become the top target for the SEC rival Auburn Tigers. The Tigers recently fired Bryan Harsin amid a turbulent season, ending a short but tumultuous tenure on the Plains.
Many are saying that Auburn is a significant step up from its Western division counterpart, having the ability to provide a higher salary, more NIL opportunities, and easier access to top players. Others have suggested that Kiffin’s reached his ceiling at Ole Miss after posting what’s tracking to be back-to-back 10-win seasons.
OM brass is reportedly biting back, though.
SportsTalk Mississippi is reporting that Ole Miss is ready to make Lane Kiffin the highest paid coach in program history. The sports radio show tweeted out the following on Thursday afternoon.
Lane Kiffin has a received a new contract offer from Ole Miss that would make him one of the ten highest paid coaches in college football. It’s now a waiting game to see if he will receive an offer from Auburn.
According to SportsTalk Mississippi, the new contract would “raise Kiffin’s salary by around $2 million. Kiffin is currently the nation’s 11th highest paid coach with a base salary of $7.25 million, which does not include incentives.”
Richard Cross of the Ole Miss Network believes it will be in the “$9 million a year range.”
That would be significant for a number of reasons. One, it shows the Rebels are serious about retaining their head coach. They’re ready to play with the big boys and match any offer Auburn might make. Two, it obviously makes the decision much more difficult for Kiffin. He’ll now have 9M reasons to stay put and continue building his program in Oxford.
We likely won’t know much about head coach’s future for the next few weeks. Lane Kiffin has said he’ll leave contract talks on the backburner until after the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State.
Many believed Kiffin to Auburn was an easy call. Ole Miss is making it much more difficult.