After Egg Bowl loss, Lane Kiffin says he expects to return as Ole Miss head coach
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin indicated after the Rebels’ 24-22 loss to State in the Egg Bowl Thanksgiving night that he anticipates remaining in Oxford as the head coach in 2023 — even if the Auburn Tigers offer him the head-coaching position.
“Yes, I do,” Kiffin said, when asked if he expects to return to Ole Miss.
The Rebels’ head coach has been widely seen as the Tigers’ top candidate to replace Bryan Harsin who was fired October 31.
Ole Miss finishes the season on a three-game slide and now sits at 8-4, 4-4 in SEC play.
Earlier this week, WCBI-Columbus reporter Jon Sokoloff reported “breaking news” that Kiffin would be the next head coach at Auburn.
At the postgame press conference Thursday, Kiffin commented on that — while Sokoloff was present at the presser.
“It was falsely reported by Jon, who is now famous. Congratulations. That you can just write whatever you want…I would do it, too, I think. You’re never held accountable and you get to become famous…maybe you’ll be right. Jon did it, so then I had to have a team meeting to say his article was wrong, which I’d love to know these unnamed sources from Jon. I had to have a team meeting because of that. They don’t…when there’s other stuff in chats rooms…but when a reporter writes it, it changes the game of that.”
Lane Kiffin on a report earlier this week that he was taking the Auburn job
Kiffin was also queried about exactly what he told his team in a meeting Wednesday night where it was reported he told the team he would return.
“I could just easily say that’s between team meetings and we don’t really talk about that,” Kiffin began.
“I just told them that that report…that probably you’re not paying much attention to but your family is…is inaccurate. False reporting, so.”
Lane Kiffin
When asked if he told his players he will be signing a new contract at Ole Miss, Kiffin responded with:
“I’ve already talked about that. I shouldn’t have even gotten in to what was said in that meeting, but I already said it. I’m not answering anymore questions about that.“
Lane Kiffin
The Rebels’ head coach was also asked if he has a timeline for signing the contract extension from Ole Miss.
“I don’t know. I’ve signed three,” he noted. “Does a fourth one mean you’re never leaving? I don’t know. I’m much more focusing and worrying about the game than whether you sign another contract. I’m not acting ungrateful for that. Everybody thinks you sign a contract…Well a year ago you signed the same thing,” Kiffin said.
Kiffin was also asked about the fund raising of the Grove Collective, the central NIL entity for the Rebels that recently tweeted it had reached a level of over $10 million raised — for football, alone.
“Yeah, that’s awesome,” Kiffin said. “Very encouraging. Obviously, that has a lot to do with the world of college football that we’re in. The ability for places to sign players and to keep your own players. That’s very encouraging.”
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn's love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
