Ole Miss hands Lane Kiffin ‘ultimatum’ on coaching decision as LSU and Florida rumors swirl

The latest twist in the Lane Kiffin coaching drama involves a deadline.

Ole Miss has handed Kiffin — its coach since 2020 but a candidate for both the LSU and Florida openings — an “ultimatum,” according to The Athletic, and wants him to decide on his future with the Rebels by their Nov. 28 Egg Bowl game.

Kiffin was asked again about his future with the program following their game Saturday, but he didn’t definitively remain committed to Ole Miss, which is 10-1 and No. 5 in the latest AP rankings.

Both LSU and Florida sent private planes to fly Kiffin’s family to their schools over the weekend, according to The Athletic — but Kiffin reportedly wasn’t on the trips.

Louisianasports.net reported that Kiffin’s ex-wife Layla — with whom he shares three children and reportedly has reconciled since getting divorced in 2016 — was touring the city.

“I love what we’re doing here,” Kiffin said after the Rebels defeated the Gators on Saturday in Gainesville, Fla., a venue that featured chants and shirts suggesting Florida fans would be just fine with him as their next coach. “Today was awesome. To even talk about it right now would be so disrespectful to our players and how well they played today. We’ve got a lot of things going here. Doing really well, and I love it here.”

Both the Florida and LSU jobs opened in October, with the Gators head coach fired Oct. 19 following a victory that bumped their record to 3-4 and LSU’s Brian Kelly canned one week later following a brutal 24-point loss to Texas A&M.

The deadline from Ole Miss would force Kiffin to decide on his future before the final game of the regular season, with a bye this weekend followed by their rivalry game against Mississippi State the following weekend.

It’s unclear what will happen if Kiffin doesn’t reveal his decision before the Egg Bowl, according to The Athletic.

Kiffin, 50, started his career with a quick rise, becoming the Raiders head coach by the 2007 season, and he also served as the head coach of Tennessee, USC and Florida Atlantic before returning to Ole Miss before the 2020 season.

After a 5-5 campaign during his first year with the Rebels, Kiffin has guided them to at least 10 wins in four of the past five seasons, and they’re positioned for a chance at a top four seed in the College Football Playoff if they can defeat the Bulldogs and their opponent in the SEC Championship game.

But before either of those games, before anything that follows for the Rebels in the postseason tournament, Kiffin will need to decide on his future.

And it keeps getting murkier.