Ole Miss Football’s Lane Kiffin Named to Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Award Watch List

HOUSTON – (Release) Ole Miss football head coach Lane Kiffin has been named to the watch list for the American Heart Association’s Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award, as announced on Wednesday afternoon.

Kiffin is among 28 coaches nationally and nine within the SEC named to the watch list for the Bear Bryant Award, which is given annually each January to a college football coach for contributions that make the sport better for athletes and fans alike by demonstrating grit, integrity and a winning approach to coaching and life – both on and off the field. In honor of legendary Alabama coach Bear Bryant, the American Heart Association and the Bryant family present the award each year to raise awareness and critical funds for its mission.

Kiffin has Ole Miss off to its eighth pure 6-0 start in program history this season, led by the nation’s fifth-best offense (515.3 ypg). The Rebels currently rank No. 5 in both the AP and Coaches polls for Week Eight, making the 2025 campaign only the 13th season in program history that Ole Miss has broken into a national top-five at any point in the season – the second season in a row and the first back-to-back years since 2014 and 2015. The Rebels have also broken into the national top-10 for a fifth straight year under Kiffin, the first such streak at Ole Miss since 1960-64.

At 50-18 in six seasons with the Rebels, Kiffin recently became the fastest coach in Ole Miss history to 50 wins, besting John Vaught by six games. All-time, Kiffin ranks second in winning percentage (.735) and third in total wins (50) in Ole Miss history, and among SEC schools since 2021 only Georgia (58) and Alabama (50) have more wins than Kiffin’s Rebel squads (45). At 111 career victories, Kiffin stands among 16 active head coaches with 100 wins at the FBS level – one of three in the SEC behind LSU’s Brian Kelly (200) and Georgia’s Kirby Smart (110).

Kiffin has put an indelible stamp on the program, as he is the owner of the first 11-win season in school history (2023), the first two 10-win regular seasons in program history (2021, ’23), the first two seven-win home seasons (2021, ’23), and the first consecutive 10-win seasons at Ole Miss (2023, ’24) since Vaught’s 1959 (10-1) and 1960 (10-0-1) teams did so – with another such season in 2025 making Kiffin the first in program history with three in a row.

Now in its 40th year, the Coach of the Year award winner will be presented Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026during the Association’s annual Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Awards ceremony, in Houston, Texas. The ceremony, presented by Memorial Hermann Health System, will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network. The watch list, finalists and Coach of the Year recipient are voted on by the National Sports Media Association, the Bryant Awards’ Executive Leadership Team and the Bryant Family.

In addition to the Coach of the Year, the Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards will also present Conference Coach of the Year Awards from each of the Power Four collegiate athletic conferences (Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12 and Southeastern Conference) and one from the combined Group of Five conferences (American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference and Sun Belt Conference), the Pac-12 and Independent teams.

2025 Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Watch List

Bret Bielema – Illinois

Curt Cignetti – Indiana

Mario Cristobal – Miami (Fla.)

Ryan Day – Ohio State

Kalen DeBoer – Alabama
Eliah Drinkwitz – Missouri

Tony Elliott – Virginia
Mike Elko – Texas A&M

Matt Entz – Fresno State

Willie Fritz – Houston

Alex Golesh – USF
Josh Heupel – Tennessee

Brian Kelly – LSU
Brent Key – Georgia Tech

Lane Kiffin – Ole Miss

Dan Lanning – Oregon

Clark Lea – Vanderbilt

Joey McGuire – Texas Tech

Dan Mullen – UNLV

Brian Newberry – Navy

Lincoln Riley – USC

Scott Satterfield – Cincinnati

Ryan Silverfield – Memphis

Kalani Sitake – BYU

Kirby Smart – Georgia

Jon Sumrall – Tulane

Brent Venables – Oklahoma

Kyle Whittingham – Utah

 

-Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports