How will Lane Kiffin decide between Ole Miss football, LSU, Florida? What experts predict

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OXFORD — The Lane Kiffin situation is generating nationwide debate.

Kiffin, the Ole Miss football coach, has the No. 6 Rebels (10-1, 6-1 SEC) on track to make the first College Football Playoff in program history. He is also the center of the sports rumor mill. LSU and Florida are reportedly in pursuit to make him their next coach.

Because Kiffin has not publicly committed to his future, it has intensified speculation. National pundits have chimed in offering predictions and advice. Here’s a sampling of the debate.

Joel Klatt predicts Kiffin leaves Ole Miss, creates huge mess

Fox Sports broadcaster Joel Klatt gave his prediction on the Colin Cowherd show on Nov. 19.

“I think he’s going to Florida,” Klatt said. “I really do. I think he’s going to Florida and I think he’s going to be the next coach of the Gators. And I think we’re going to have one of the biggest messes in college football history go down before the playoff when Lane Kiffin steps down before the College Football Playoff to coach another team.”

Klatt alluded to coaches such as Indiana’s Curt Cignetti or Texas’s Steve Sarkisian who have confirmed they want to stay where they are at.

“If (Kiffin) wanted to stay, he would stay,” Klatt said. “And we would’ve already know it. Look at all the other coaches around the country that have said they are staying or signed extensions. Ole Miss, I know, has told him, ‘Money is a not a factor here. Whatever you get offered, we will match it.’ “

Colin Cowherd predicts Lane Kiffin doesn’t care about legend status at Ole Miss

Speaking on his show on Nov. 19, Colin Cowherd theorized that Kiffin is like ambitious people he’s met in other fields. They want to get paid and be at a place they can compete against the best.

Cowherd said Ole Miss is not the place for Kiffin, if that is the case.

“If you are at Ole Miss, you are never going to get consistent recruiting classes like Georgia and Ohio State,” Cowherd said. “I don’t think Lane Kiffin wakes up thinking, ‘I want to be the greatest Ole Miss coach of all time.’ What’s the value of that? That doesn’t mean you are a national champion. I think Lane wants to hoist a trophy.”

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith suggests Lane Kiffin will struggle to recruit in Oxford

“Leave it to me,” Smith said Nov. 19 on ESPN. “I’ll say it. The brothers ain’t trying to come to Oxford, Mississippi. For the most part. Compared to Gainesville or Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Let’s just call it what it is.”

Smith followed it up by referencing Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy’s appearance with Kiffin on Nov. 18 during an interview the “Pat McAfee Show.”

“I’m not saying that you don’t have Black players and stuff like that on the team,” Smith said. “Of course you do. Just showed it with the Pat McAfee Show. We understand that. But I’m just talking about a recruiting standpoint, in terms of longevity and establishing a sustained level of success for many, many years.”

Paul Finebaum pushes back on Steven A Smith’s Lane Kiffin, Oxford opinion

SEC Network host Paul Finebaum disagreed with Smith’s assessment.

“He clearly made it racial,” Finebaum said on Nov. 19 on his show. “He clearly said, in his words, that the brothers do not want to go to Oxford, Mississippi. Which I think has been proven to be incorrect. I’ve been to Oxford a million times. I think it’s terribly unfair to bring up echoes of yesteryear, the ’60s, and try to portray Oxford as that type of place today. It’s not. The South has changed.”

Paul Myerberg predicts Lane Kiffin to choose Florida

USA TODAY’s Paul Myerberg predicted the entire coaching carousel. It’s an unforgiving task, considering he made his picks for an ever-changing situation on Nov. 6. He said Kiffin will leave Oxford and go to Florida.

“He’d clearly be a home run for the Gators, though he wouldn’t be the first in recent history to earn that label — in one form or another, each of Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain, Dan Mullen and (Billy) Napier were viewed the same way,” Myerberg wrote. “But none of those coaches had won at Kiffin’s level in the SEC.”

Comedian Theo Von hopes Lane Kiffin stay at Ole Miss

Comedian and podcaster Theo Von, who is friends with Kiffin, chimed in on the situation. He complimented Ole Miss on X and said he hopes his friend stays put.

Von visited Oxford recently. He watched Kiffin’s son, Knox, play high school football on Nov. 14 for Oxford High School and accompanied Kiffin on “The Walk” before the Rebels’ game against Florida on Nov. 15.

“It’s lit in the ‘Sip,” Von posted Nov. 18. “I didn’t think it was. I was wrong. They got a beautiful future on the grill down there. I hope Lane stays.”

Barstool Sports’ Brandon Walker smells a setup

Kiffin and Brandon Walker, a noted Mississippi State fan, got into a recent exchange on X. Walker thinks Kiffin is leaning into the drama on purpose.

“I smell a setup,” Walker posted on X on Nov. 17. “They’re doing this for the big hero’s return. He ain’t going nowhere.”

Sam Hutchens covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at Shutchens@gannett.com or reach him on X at @Sam_Hutchens_

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Will Lane Kiffin coach Ole Miss, LSU or Florida? Experts predict

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