I half-jokingly said after LSU lost to Alabama that I wish we could just fast-forward through the rest of the regular season, so we can find out who the next head coach at LSU will be.
Apparently, the fast-forward button has been pushed, and we might know who the next coach will be later this week.
Ole Miss has reportedly given Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin an ultimatum. They want to know if Kiffin will be the Rebels coach long-term and if not, they are ready to move on and could easily make offensive analyst and former Giants head coach Joe Judge the interim head coach for their push through the college football playoffs.
Ole Miss leadership, boosters, and other supporters are growing restless. Kiffin has not agreed to a contract extension that he has been sitting on his desk for weeks. Meanwhile, big-name coaches like Indiana’s Curt Cignetti and Texas A&M’s Mike Elko have agreed to new deals during this season.
Plus, Kiffin was asked point-blank after Saturday’s win at Florida whether he will be the head coach at Ole Miss next year, and the 50-year-old did not give a direct answer.
"I love what we're doing here," Kiffin said. "Today was awesome. To even talk about it right now would be so disrespectful to our players and how well they played today. We have got a lot of things going here. Doing really well, and I love it here."
On Sunday, Kiffin’s ex-wife, Layla, and their son Knox stayed in Gainesville to visit the area. Layla and Lane are co-parenting their children, and Layla is a Florida graduate; her late father, John Reaves, played quarterback at Florida.
After their extended stay in Gainesville, they flew back to Oxford and then on Monday, Layla along with several members of Kiffin’s family, flew to Baton Rouge on a private plane sent by LSU.
They spent six hours scouting Baton Rouge before flying back to Oxford.
Lane Kiffin now has a tough decision to make. Stay at Ole Miss, go to Florida or go to LSU.
Kiffin has stayed in close contact with his former boss at Alabama, Nick Saban. Kiffin and Saban share the same agent, Jimmy Sexton, and it is believed that Saban has been advising Kiffin that he should take the LSU job, where he could potentially win multiple championships.
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Sexton is also the co-head of football at Creative Artists Agency, which represents coaches and NFL players. It would be good for Sexton’s agency if one of his clients were the head coach at LSU, giving them a better chance to represent LSU players who will one day star in the NFL.
The Rebels’ next game is against Mississippi State on November 28, and the Ole Miss administration wants an answer from Kiffin before that game.
But Kiffin cannot wait that long to decide, because the stakes are too massive and the ramifications are huge.
Expect to hear something this week.
And if Kiffin leaves Ole Miss, the Rebels and Auburn Tigers will battle over Tulane’s Jon Sumrall.