Ole Miss athletic director: Announcement regarding Lane Kiffin's future will happen on Nov. 29

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The saga surrounding Lane Kiffin’s coaching future continues.

Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter said Friday that “an announcement on Coach Kiffin’s future is expected” on Saturday, Nov. 29. Mississippi plays Mississippi State on Nov. 28 after a bye week in Week 13.

Kiffin is the top candidate for the open head coaching positions at both Florida and LSU as Ole Miss is 10-1 and well-positioned to make the College Football Playoff for the first time in school history. Will Kiffin be the team's coach in the College Football Playoff? Or will he be going somewhere else? We won't know for a little while longer.

“Coach Kiffin and I have had many pointed and positive conversations regarding his future at Ole Miss, including meeting today with Chancellor [Glenn] Boyce," Carter said. "While we discuss next steps, we know we cannot lose sight of what is most important — our sixth-ranked team that is poised to finish the regular season in historic fashion. Despite the outside noise, Coach Kiffin is focused on preparing our team for the Egg Bowl, and together, we want to ensure that our players and coaches can concentrate fully on next Friday’s game. This team is on the cusp of an unprecedented season, and it’s imperative they feel the support of the Ole Miss family in the Week ahead. An announcement on Coach Kiffin’s future is expected the Saturday following the game.”

The "outside noise" of Kiffin's flirtations with both Florida and LSU have become the biggest off-field story of the final weeks of the regular season. Members of Kiffin's family visited Baton Rouge and Gainesville in consecutive days earlier in the week. After those trips, Kiffin went on the "Pat McAfee Show" for an interview that contained a lot of awkward exuberance. The interview didn't contain questions about his family's visits.

Florida is set for a losing season after firing coach Billy Napier midway through the season and LSU will lose at least four games again in 2025 after firing Brian Kelly. The Tigers boast a national title from the 2019 season and Florida was dominant earlier in the 2000s. Ole Miss, meanwhile, hasn't won a conference title in 60-plus years.

However, Kiffin has helped turn Ole Miss into a better program than both Florida and LSU in recent seasons. He's embraced the transfer portal and Ole Miss boosters have embraced NIL to attract players. Ole Miss has won at least 10 games in three of the last four seasons as Kiffin is in his sixth season at the school. 

That success didn't prevent Kiffin from immediately refuting overtures from either school, however. Already one of the highest-paid coaches in the country at $9 million this season, Kiffin will see a multi-million dollar raise per season no matter if he stays at Ole Miss or heads to the Gators or Tigers. And given Carter's statement, we're going to have to wait another week to find out what Kiffin will do next.

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