Kiffin agrees to new contract to remain at Ole Miss

[aubiefifty 16,754]

looks like it is officially official...................

 

espn.com

 

Lane Kiffin agrees to new contract to remain at Ole Miss

Chris Low

~2 minutes

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Lane Kiffin anticipates returning as Ole Miss' coach next season (0:51)

Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin says that he expects to return to the team next season. (0:51)

11:09 AM CT

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  Chris LowESPN Senior Writer

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  • College football reporter
  • Joined ESPN.com in 2007
  • Graduate of the University of Tennessee

Lane Kiffin will return as Ole Miss' coach next season and is signing a new contract extension with the Rebels, he told ESPN on Saturday.

Kiffin said he had meetings with both the team and his staff before Ole Miss' 24-22 loss to Mississippi State on Thursday to tell them that he was staying and that it would be announced after the game.

Kiffin was a prime candidate at Auburn, and his name had circulated for weeks in connection with the Tigers job.

"I didn't want it to be about me staying before the game, but about the team," Kiffin told ESPN. "I didn't want it to be a distraction to where everybody was talking about me staying versus the players, which is why I wanted them to know it would be announced after the game."

Ole Miss is expected to make an official announcement sometime this weekend.

Sources told ESPN that Kiffin's new deal will take his average annual salary to the $9 million range. He made $7.25 million this season.

In three seasons at Ole Miss, Kiffin is 23-12. The Rebels won their first seven games this season but lost four of their last five. A year ago, Kiffin led Ole Miss to its first 10-win regular season in school history.

[aubiefifty 16,754]

 

Is Hugh Freeze the right fit at Auburn? (2:00)

Kirk Herbstreit, David Pollack, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee discuss Hugh Freeze, who is the favorite to be the next head coach at Auburn. (2:00)

Auburn has been in discussion with Liberty's Hugh Freeze for weeks about him becoming the school's next football coach, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel.

Sources said the Tigers are not expected to make a formal offer until after Saturday's Iron Bowl game against Alabama, but the sides have informally discussed a contract for more than a week.

Auburn's pursuit of Freeze has come into focus after Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said earlier this week that he intended to stay with the Rebels even if the Tigers offered him their head-coaching position. Kiffin then told ESPN's Chris Low on Saturday that he had agreed to a contract extension with Ole Miss.

New Auburn athletic director John Cohen, who was hired Oct. 31, had narrowed the search to Kiffin and Freeze and heavily vetted both coaches, sources told Low.

Freeze would return to the SEC after spending five seasons at Ole Miss from 2012 to 2016. Freeze went 39-25 for the Rebels before he resigned in July 2017 after being found to have used a university-provided cell phone to call a number associated with an escort service.

Ole Miss was also placed on NCAA probation in 2017 for violations that occurred in part under Freeze, and the sanctions included a two-year bowl ban.

Freeze, while cited by the NCAA's committee on infractions for failure to monitor his assistant coaches and the school's boosters, did not receive a show-cause penalty and "promoted an atmosphere of compliance," according to the NCAA report.

The 53-year-old Freeze rose back to prominence with the Flames. After Turner Gill went 6-6 in Liberty's first full-time FBS season in 2018, Freeze raised the bar, going 8-5, 10-1 and 8-5 in his first three seasons. That run included a Cure Bowl victory over No. 9 Coastal Carolina in 2020.

The Flames are 8-3 this season, including a win over Arkansas on Nov. 5.

Sources told ESPN that Freeze's history of winning and the study of his analytics and quarterback development made him attractive. Auburn officials also considered Freeze an elite fit in the community, with an outgoing nature that fits the program's college-town vibe.

Freeze had signed a new eight-year contract with Liberty in October. His salary, which sources told Thamel was just under $5 million per year, put him among the highest-paid coaches in the Group of 5.

Auburn fired Bryan Harsin on Oct. 31 after a four-game losing streak dropped the Tigers to 3-5 on the season. Harsin was 9-12 overall in less than two seasons at Auburn, which experienced repeated struggles on offense and had difficulty sustaining success on the recruiting trail. Auburn owed Harsin a $15.5 million buyout, with 50% of that due within 30 days of termination.

Entering Saturday, the Tigers have gone 2-1 under interim coach Cadillac Williams, a former star running back at the school.

Freeze would become Auburn's third head coach in the past four years. Gus Malzahn, currently at UCF, was fired at the end of the 2020 season before Harsin lasted parts of two seasons.

The Tigers last won an SEC championship in 2013, Malzahn's first season as coach, when they also played in the BCS national championship game, losing to Florida State.

[sevenlee36 1,654]

Well this is all Fake News because in case they haven’t hear Lane is guaranteed to sign with us no later then tomorrow. What fools these people are.

[GreenTiger 1,005]

Embarrassing for Auburn 

[PoetTiger 1,896]

I don’t think some posters here believe this fifty  😂😂

[AcUmen 242]

Auburn is now a less desirable job than Ole Miss.  Sad!

[aucom96 1,618]

Our primary target, money is no obstacle and after a lot of stupid trolling, we can't pull this guy away from a team that's never even been in an SEC championship game after allegedly tossing out ridiculous money? 

Unreal. 

[AUwent 3,748]

IDK how to feel...yeah the optics at first are bad but I can completely understand our PTB looking at A&M's situation and learning from it.

[PoetTiger 1,896]

28 minutes ago, GreenTiger said:

Embarrassing for Auburn 

How? You think Kiffin is worth 9 million per year? for what he has accomplished?

[banditmwp 712]

12 minutes ago, AcUmen said:

Auburn is now a less desirable job than Ole Miss.  Sad!

 

32 minutes ago, GreenTiger said:

Embarrassing for Auburn 

Please explain which part looks bad on Auburn, because I’m confused. 
 

Is it the part where he wanted a guaranteed 11 year contract? Or is it the part where Auburn didn’t cave to his demands and expose us to the huge potential buyout?

Or the part where his kids didn’t want to leave Oxford?

 

Edited November 26, 2022 by banditmwp

[Old fan 47 769]

10 minutes ago, aucom96 said:

Our primary target, money is no obstacle and after a lot of stupid trolling, we can't pull this guy away from a team that's never even been in an SEC championship game after allegedly tossing out ridiculous money? 

Unreal. 

Auburn splash hire. Freeze. What a joke of a program this has become. 

[miscram6 134]

"Sources tell FootballScoop that Ole Miss matched Auburn's offer in terms of salary and exceeded their SEC West bunk mates on the length of their commitment to the 47-year-old coach.

Ole Miss circumvented Mississippi state law preventing state institutions from offering contracts longer than four years by financing it through the university's private foundation."

 

Source: https://footballscoop.com/news/sources-lane-kiffin-inks-new-contract-at-ole-miss

[GoAU 1,600]

Kiffin would have been my first choice, but I was concerned about his longevity or having a ridiculous buyout.  If these stories are accurate and we refused to get held over the barrel with a huge buyout I'm OK with that.  We could do a lot worse than Freeze. 

[sevenlee36 1,654]

25 minutes ago, banditmwp said:

 

Please explain which part looks bad on Auburn, because I’m confused. 
 

Is it the part where he wanted a guaranteed 11 year contract? Or is it the part where Auburn didn’t cave to his demands and expose us to the huge potential buyout?

Or the part where his kids didn’t want to leave Oxford?

 

Oh so now we know exactly the terms we offered and didn’t offer? But he was certainly coming up until right now. Oh and his kids didn’t wanna come 😂. Weak excuse. I imagine most kids wouldn’t want to move. We are less than Mississippi schools and that is, understandably, tough for many to accept. We aren’t worrying about Alabama anymore we are just trying to be more relevant then the SIP schools now. We were being leveraged for a better contract the whole time.

Edited November 26, 2022 by sevenlee36

[tigerrules 517]

It’s a lot easier to be measured against Miss St, than it is LSU, Georgia and Bama.  When the bammer job comes open I suspect he will be in the mix also.  Very good coach. He may become great.  He makes some really boneheaded decisions sometimes. Not taking anything away. I am definitely not distraught today. 

[Cardin Drake 1,822]

Ok, now I believe it.  I'm glad it's not Kiffen with a 10 year contract. Can't say I'm thrilled with Freeze though.  Matt Ruhle to Neb. Sigh. I'd like the non-existent 3rd option.

[Taker 494]

All you will hear is how Lane didn't take the job because " he has been hand picked to follow saban at alabama, he knew that was coming so he just used auburn to get a raise until saban retires" 

You heard it here first.

[Quietmaninthecorner 1,945]

Hasn't kliffin been saying all along that he is staying at UM?  what has changed?  Has he signed on the dotted line yet?

[Old fan 47 769]

4 minutes ago, tigerrules said:

It’s a lot easier to be measured against Miss St, than it is LSU, Georgia and Bama.  When the bammer job comes open I suspect he will be in the mix also.  Very good coach. He may become great.  He makes some really boneheaded decisions sometimes. Not taking anything away. I am definitely not distraught today. 

I wouldn’t say I’m distraught either, but I really didn’t want Freeze. Maybe he will prove me wrong in the end, but I do have my doubts. I just want some consistency brought back to this program and fight the way Caddy has gotten them to. 

[AUwent 3,748]

10 minutes ago, tigerrules said:

It’s a lot easier to be measured against Miss St, than it is LSU, Georgia and Bama.  When the bammer job comes open I suspect he will be in the mix also.  Very good coach. He may become great.  He makes some really boneheaded decisions sometimes. Not taking anything away. I am definitely not distraught today. 

Almost like we shouldn't be throwing ourselves at the toughest combo of opponents possible! 

[AUY2K 258]

Kiffin pulling in jack while buying time for saban to retire or NFL job which ever comes first?  Because if he took the Auburn job he’d be out for the bammer job.

Edited November 26, 2022 by AUY2K

[aujohnson 297]

1 hour ago, GoAU said:

Kiffin would have been my first choice, but I was concerned about his longevity or having a ridiculous buyout.  If these stories are accurate and we refused to get held over the barrel with a huge buyout I'm OK with that.  We could do a lot worse than Freeze. 

Exactly. 

[gctiger 929]

3 hours ago, tigerrules said:

It’s a lot easier to be measured against Miss St, than it is LSU, Georgia and Bama.  When the bammer job comes open I suspect he will be in the mix also.  Very good coach. He may become great.  He makes some really boneheaded decisions sometimes. Not taking anything away. I am definitely not distraught today. 

Kiffin won’t be in the mix.  Saban will have a huge say in the matter and he has no love for the way that Kiffin since he had to tell him to hit the road.  I’ve heard this from multiple firmer Bama players and on sports radio.  

[aujohnson 297]

2 minutes ago, gctiger said:

Kiffin won’t be in the mix.  Saban will have a huge say in the matter and he has no love for the way that Kiffin since he had to tell him to hit the road.  I’ve heard this from multiple firmer Bama players and on sports radio.  

I think it will be Dabo but who knows. 

[gctiger 929]

1 minute ago, aujohnson said:

I think it will be Dabo but who knows. 

Any coach that follows Saban should negotiate a huge buyout because they’re gonna have some huge shoes to fill while working 24/7 to keep a delusional fan base happy.