Lane Kiffin says he expects to return to Ole Miss next season following loss to Mississippi State

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has been reported to be the top candidate for the open coaching position at Auburn for the past several weeks. 

Thursday night, after Ole Miss lost 24-22 to Mississippi State, Kiffin was asked by a reporter whether he anticipated being the head coach of Ole Miss for the 2023 season if Auburn were to offer him the coaching position.

“I do,” Kiffin responded. 

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Monday evening, WCBI News in Mississippi reported that Kiffin would become the next head coach at Auburn after stepping down as head coach of Ole Miss on Friday. 

“BREAKING: [Ole Miss] HC Lane Kiffin plans to step down as the Rebels coach Friday and head to Auburn to become the Tigers’ next head coach, according to sources. Sources say the Tigers have not officially offered the job to anyone yet.

“So Lane to Auburn is happening. Story soon.”

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Kiffin shot down the report on Twitter, addressing it in his postgame press conference and calling out to the reporter who publicized the report. 

“I think when it was falsely reported by Jon (Sokoloff), who is now famous, congratulations,” Kiffin said Thursday night. “That you can just write whatever you want, and I would do it too, I think, because you’re never held accountable, and you get to become famous, and maybe you’ll be right.

“Jon did it, so I had to have a team meeting to say his article was wrong. I would love to know these unnamed sources from Jon. So yes, I had to have a team meeting because of that. When there’s other stuff, chat rooms and all that stuff, but when a reporter writes, it changes the game on that.”

Kiffin has been rumored to be Auburn’s top choice after the school fired Bryan Harsin as head coach of the Tigers midway through his second season.

 

Kiffin is in his third year in Oxford, going 23-12, winning 10 games in 2021 and getting Ole Miss to the Sugar Bowl.