By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
STARKVILLE, Mississippi – There were large flies in the gumbo for LSU fans entering the regular season finale at No. 8 Oklahoma on Saturday (2:30 p.m., ABC) as they continue to hope Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin becomes their next coach.
LSU (7-4, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) opened the game against the Sooners (9-2, 5-2 SEC) without knowing if Kiffin is coming to Baton Rouge. He was scheduled to meet with Ole Miss athletic director Scott Carter at 3 p.m. Saturday and soon announce his decision – everyone on both sides hopes.
And if he chooses to stay at Ole Miss, where would LSU be?
– Tulane coach Jon Sumrall? Or would it be too late, as he may be Florida bound.
– Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham?
Previous LSU potential targets Eli Drinkwitz at Missouri and Clark Lea at Vanderbilt apparently locked into new deals in recent days.
But the Kiffin Decision, which Kiffin said on Friday that he would make today according to Carter’s wishes, could stretch into late Saturday, or maybe Sunday, or later. Because another Ole Miss game before the No. 7 Rebels (11-1, 7-1 SEC) play in the College Football Playoff on Dec. 19 or 20 has entered the Candidate Kiffin picture. Few, if anyone, brought up this new scenario over the past several days.
Lane Kiffin’s next play call will be?
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) November 29, 2025
“There’s a lot that goes into it. It’s a hard decision.”
– Lane Kiffinhttps://t.co/j2EWGKTdqX
Kiffin had a staff meeting scheduled for late Saturday morning in the Ole Miss football facility to discuss a possible game plan for No. 4 Georgia (11-1, 7-1 SEC) in the SEC Championship Game next Saturday in Atlanta (3 p.m., ABC), according to ESPN’s Marty Smith.
Ole Miss, which won an 11th game for the first time in a regular season in school history here Friday, 38-19, over Mississippi State, can reach its first SEC title game in history should Auburn (5-6, 1-6 SEC) upset No. 10 Alabama (9-2, 6-1 SEC) at Auburn on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC). Alabama is a 5.5-point favorite.
Since No. 16 Texas (9-3, 6-2 SEC) upset No. 3 Texas A&M (11-1, 7-1 SEC), 27-17, late Friday, Ole Miss has a chance to write another chapter in an historic season that is going down as one of its best ever.
LSU still leading Ole Miss in the “Lane Kiffin Bowl,” but it may not be over. And Florida has been eliminated. … Live From Starkville:https://t.co/tUQE9kjWy0
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) November 28, 2025
And with each passing hour, Kiffin may be realizing more and more how cool it would be to just stay at Ole Miss. He has been here before and stayed as Auburn went after him following the 2022 season. Even without the SEC title game scenario, Ole Miss is expected to host a playoff game on Dec. 19 or 20 in what would be the greatest single event in the sports history of the state of Mississippi. How cool would that be for Kiffin and his legacy?
Kiffin, 50, very much did not look or sound like a man about to clean out his desk at Ole Miss and head to Baton Rouge for a press conference on Sunday or Monday after the Rebels’ victory on Friday. He was very much in Ole Miss Mode as he spoke with his sports information director in an aside during his postgame press conference about a possible SEC title game.
“Shoot, we could have a whole different narrative here if Texas and Auburn win their home games,” he said before Texas won. “Two really hard places to play, man. So, maybe Texas wins today, and we’re all watching the Iron Bowl (tonight). And we all know in Jordan-Hare Stadium, magical things happen. So, maybe Jordan-Hare sends us to the SEC Championship Game.”
US?
What about LSU – the Purple and Gold Elephant in the Room?
Then someone interrupted and tried to get Kiffin back on track, which has been very difficult to do. Just ask Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter.
“Lane, you said you’ve got to make a decision tomorrow (Saturday, between Ole Miss and LSU),” a reporter asked, but Kiffin was still dreaming of coaching Ole Miss in an SEC title game. And he just kept on with the Lane Train of thought, which is hard to follow. Ask anybody.
“Maybe, it’s because in the past, maybe we’ve taught D.J. Durkin some things, and then maybe now it’s going to help us,” Kiffin laughed. “I didn’t think about that.”
No one thinks like Kiffin. Just ask LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry, who could be in store for a hellish day and night on this Saturday.
To explain Lane’s Train of thought above, Durkin is Kiffin’s former defensive coordinator at Ole Miss in 2020 and ’21 before Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher hired him away for 2022 and ’23. After Fisher was fired, Durkin became DC at Auburn in 2024 and ’25 before replacing fired head coach Hugh Freeze as interim coach this season.
Should Auburn win tonight, Kiffin is going to want to coach Ole Miss in his new last game next Saturday. And seeing how great and inspired his team played Saturday amid all the supposed noise and distractions, it would be hard for Carter to argue against that.
Of course, the early signing period does run this Wednesday through Friday. So, there’s that.
If Auburn does win tonight, Ole Miss may be forced to switch the locks at the football facility to keep Kiffin out and make him make a decision. Remember, he has the leverage.
Meanwhile, Kiffin’s mentor, Nick Saban, continues to lobby for more time for Kiffin as the world, including other coaching changes via chain reactions post the Kiffin Decision, waits.
“I think they (Ole Miss) should let Lane coach his team, number one,” Saban said on ESPN’s College GameDay Saturday while Kiffin and his family were doing hot yoga in Oxford. It was Saban, the former LSU and Alabama coach, last week who blamed college football’s bad scheduling model instead of Kiffin for the conundrum college football is in now as Kiffin tries to decide. The NFL does a much better job with parameters for coaching movement.
“Lane’s decision is going to come down to one thing. ‘Where is the place that I can recruit the best players?'” Saban said. “And I think one of Lane’s apprehensions is that he’s had to use the portal to build his team at Ole Miss each year. And at LSU, he could probably recruit better talent and then just supplement his team by need with the portal. That’s probably the dilemma that he has, as well as his loyalty to his team that he’s coaching know that he wants to be able to continue to coach. It’s a tough thing.”
Soon, dear readers, we’ll all be off this Lane Train ride. But it’s not over yet.
So enjoy LSU’s first-ever game at Oklahoma, and then fasten your seatbelts, if a Kiffin decision has not been made by sundown, because it’s going to be a bumpy night as LSU fans everywhere pull for Alabama. Imagine that.
And I keep hearing in my head the song Mississippi State played over the loudspeakers Friday late in Ole Miss’ win for Lane Kiffin:
The Clash’s “Should I Stay, Or Should I Go?”
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