Lane Kiffin's big win over Oklahoma is great news for Ole Miss -- but bad news for Florida coaching search

Give an older, wiser Lane Kiffin credit for how he's handling a tricky situation that can distract and frustrate even the most focused of college football coaches. 

With speculation already swirling about Florida's interest in Kiffin, No. 8 Ole Miss went on the road and beat No. 13 Oklahoma 34-26 in Norman. The Rebels showed impressive resiliency late after letting a 22-10 halftime lead dissolve into a 1-point Oklahoma lead headed into the fourth quarter. It's another marquee win for Ole Miss and has the Rebels primed to make the College Football Playoff if they can take care of business the final month of the season. 

Not only would that be a dream come true for Ole Miss fans who have emotionally and financially supported the Rebels' football renaissance, but it could make it even more likely Kiffin stays in Oxford. 

All that now stands between Ole Miss and a playoff berth is: a 3-4 South Carolina team, FCS opponent The Citadel, a Florida program that already fired coach Billy Napier and in-state rival Mississippi State that has yet to win an SEC game under Jeff Lebby. Anything can happen in the SEC, as Lane learned a year ago when Florida and Kentucky tripped up a really good Ole Miss team. This year, though, there's no excuse to miss the playoff now. 

Here's why Lane's win over Oklahoma was so huge: If Ole Miss now makes the CFP, as it should, those first-round games begin Dec. 19. Critically, that's two weeks after the early signing period of Dec. 4-6. If Ole Miss were to win that first playoff game that could be played in Oxford, it would then have a quarterfinal game either Dec. 31 or Jan. 1. Why is that important? There's now only one transfer portal window this cycle, and it runs from Jan. 2-16. 

If you had to wait until Jan 1 or later to make a hire, it could put you way behind the 8-ball on putting together not only a high school recruiting class but a transfer group. For Lane, who has been dubbed the "Portal King," that would be especially challenging. With the way fan patience is now, especially in the SEC, you can't just waive away a first recruiting class either the way you might have been able to in the past. Indiana's Curt Cignetti has shown what can be done in Year 1, and every program is chasing it now. 

Would a program be willing to wait until after a coach is done in the CFP? No school was willing to do it a year ago, and there is considerable skepticism one would want to unless it's entirely unavoidable. It'd be awfully risky as no coach is going to want to commit to a new school while he's still competing for a national championship. Kiffin desperately wants to win a national championship one day -- it will drive any decision he makes -- and has learned from past mistakes to give the Rebels the best chance to do so this season. 

Florida's first call should be Lane Kiffin. The tea leaves say he's intrigued

John Talty

Consider how he handled Auburn's interest back in 2022. Auburn fired Bryan Harsin on Halloween -- not too dissimilar from what Florida just did last Sunday in firing Billy Napier -- and didn't hide its interest in the Ole Miss coach. It hung over everything Lane and Ole Miss seemed to do as he seriously considered making the switch to another SEC school. And as the now famous story goes, had his daughter Landry not convinced him otherwise, Kiffin likely would have become Auburn's coach. 

Whether it was his fault or not, Auburn's interest in Kiffin cast a pall over Ole Miss. What started as a 7-0 season finished with a whimper when the Rebels lost their last four games of the season and ended 8-5. The whole situation frustrated Ole Miss administrators and boosters that he wouldn't tamp down the speculation and a dream season went up in smoke. 

This time around, Kiffin decided he needed to break from his usual strategy and address the coaching rumors with his team. As he explained on SEC Network Saturday morning, he told his team the interest in him was a result of the team's success. 

"That's a product of having a program with a lot of players and coaches doing a really good job," Kiffin said he told his players. "I wouldn't even mention it because they've been through it every year for probably four years in a row, but we have so many players, I just told them, 'hey, guys, this is what happens around here because we win games and people like the style that we play in.'"

Kiffin is never going to make a "I'll never leave here" proclamation during the season the way Ole Miss fans would love to hear. He's said publicly he doesn't want to get involved in contract negotiations during the season despite Ole Miss AD Keith Carter expressing interest in getting something done before things got crazy with the coaching carousel. While it'd make everyone sleep easier at night if Kiffin agreed to a massive new deal the way Cignetti and Indiana just did, it's likely not coming during the season. 

But the best thing Lane can do for himself personally and for Ole Miss is just keep winning. It'll make Florida boosters want him even more, but it helps the home team's cause. 

The more Kiffin feels like he can legitimately win a national championship in Oxford, the more likely he is to say no to every option that comes his way.