Column | Hey Auburn, are you envious much?
Some Ole Miss fans suddenly feel like they are in purgatory. Their football team is ranked No. 11 in the College Football Playoff poll with everything still in front of it. Win out and win the SEC title game and the Rebels are in the playoffs. Yes, I said playoffs. If they win out, that would mean victories over Alabama and/or Tennessee and Georgia. That gets you into the playoffs.
Ole Miss won 10 games last year and can win 10 or more this season.
But the arrival of silly season came early this year. The man who has been the chief architect of this success is allegedly being targeted as candidate No. 1 to replace the fired Brian Harsin at Auburn. All the media says so, so it must be true, right?
In this case, it likely is.
Auburn kicked the tires on Kiffin in 2020 when they ultimately hired Harsin. Obviously, they made an errant decision, as a year and half into his realm, Auburn is searching for a coach...again.
Ole Miss vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics Keith Carter embraces Lane Kffin after a Rebel victory. (Photo: OMA)
But Kiffin is a different candidate now with two seasons of winning big in the SEC under his belt. He's much more attractive, more mature, very serious.
What's not to like about Lane Kiffin, the Portal King? He worked the transfer portal like no one else in college football over the off-season and turned what should have been a rebuilding year into a reloaded one. I understand Auburn's attraction...and envy.
He's the king of social media among college football coaches. He works Twitter like a Hollywood rock star. He is the coolest coach in the game. The kids...players and prospects...love him. They want to play for him.
His dog is a celebrity.
And he's doing it all at Ole Miss, a program that is, according to most Auburn fans, void of resources, at least by the apparent high standards on the Plains. Some of the commentary by fans and media alike about our state and our school is laughable and many of those weighing in on the matter have never stepped foot on the Ole Miss campus. Ole Miss is a great place to be and play and coach college football and go to school. I have two kids with Ole Miss degrees...one who played football there. I ought to know.
Pay me millions of dollars to coach the Ole Miss Rebels and live in Oxford, Mississippi, and I'm here forever.
Lane Kiffin might be, too.
But the Auburn thing is real, at least on their end, and at least right now. The knee-jerk reaction is to go after the hottest coach in college football, who just happens to be Kiffin at Ole Miss. It's hard to have an opinion on what Lane thinks about all of this. He's certainly aware. But he's also going to remain laser-focused on beating Alabama on Nov. 12, and Arkansas and Mississippi State afterwards. I do know that much.
And that's what Ole Miss fans should do. Lane Kiffin is your head coach. His football team could accomplish things here this season that haven't been accomplished in my 51 years. Ole Miss beat Auburn several weeks back, and that should have ended any concern about that set of Tigers. My advice? Don't get sucked in. Not now. There is simply too much left to play for with three regular-season games remaining.
A lot.
As said above, at this moment the Ole Miss Rebels have a direct path to the College Football Playoffs.
We all deserve to enjoy this.
And there is little any of us can do to affect any of the behind the scenes stuff that might or might not go on. The only thing we can do is donate to the Grove Collective and put Ole Miss in the strongest NIL position.
Personally, if Auburn does go after Kiffin, I don't think it knows the fight it will have on its hands. They won't be prepared. Dr. Boyce and Keith Carter are acutley aware of Kiffin's intrensic value to the university. And you don't let that walk out the front door, if things get that far. 😂 😂 😂
Ole Miss hosts Alabama in 10 days in one of the biggest games of the modern era Oxford has ever seen.
That is envious to others...as it should be.
Some Ole Miss fans suddenly feel like they are in purgatory. Their football team is ranked No. 11 in the College Football Playoff poll with everything still in front of it. Win out and win the SEC title game and the Rebels are in the playoffs. Yes, I said playoffs. If they win out, that would mean victories over Alabama and/or Tennessee and Georgia. That gets you into the playoffs.
Ole Miss won 10 games last year and can win 10 or more this season.
But the arrival of silly season came early this year. The man who has been the chief architect of this success is allegedly being targeted as candidate No. 1 to replace the fired Brian Harsin at Auburn. All the media says so, so it must be true, right?
In this case, it likely is.
Auburn kicked the tires on Kiffin in 2020 when they ultimately hired Harsin. Obviously, they made an errant decision, as a year and half into his realm, Auburn is searching for a coach...again.
But Kiffin is a different candidate now with two seasons of winning big in the SEC under his belt. He's much more attractive, more mature, very serious.
What's not to like about Lane Kiffin, the Portal King? He worked the transfer portal like no one else in college football over the off-season and turned what should have been a rebuilding year into a reloaded one. I understand Auburn's attraction...and envy.
He's the king of social media among college football coaches. He works Twitter like a Hollywood rock star. He is the coolest coach in the game. The kids...players and prospects...love him. They want to play for him.
His dog is a celebrity.
And he's doing it all at Ole Miss, a program that is, according to most Auburn fans, void of resources, at least by the apparent high standards on the Plains. Some of the commentary by fans and media alike about our state and our school is laughable and many of those weighing in on the matter have never stepped foot on the Ole Miss campus. Ole Miss is a great place to be and play and coach college football and go to school. I have two kids with Ole Miss degrees...one who played football there. I ought to know.
Pay me millions of dollars to coach the Ole Miss Rebels and live in Oxford, Mississippi, and I'm here forever.
Lane Kiffin might be, too.
But the Auburn thing is real, at least on their end, and at least right now. The knee-jerk reaction is to go after the hottest coach in college football, who just happens to be Kiffin at Ole Miss. It's hard to have an opinion on what Lane thinks about all of this. He's certainly aware. But he's also going to remain laser-focused on beating Alabama on Nov. 12, and Arkansas and Mississippi State afterwards. I do know that much.
And that's what Ole Miss fans should do. Lane Kiffin is your head coach. His football team could accomplish things here this season that haven't been accomplished in my 51 years. Ole Miss beat Auburn several weeks back, and that should have ended any concern about that set of Tigers. My advice? Don't get sucked in. Not now. There is simply too much left to play for with three regular-season games remaining.
A lot.
As said above, at this moment the Ole Miss Rebels have a direct path to the College Football Playoffs.
We all deserve to enjoy this.
And there is little any of us can do to affect any of the behind the scenes stuff that might or might not go on. The only thing we can do is donate to the Grove Collective and put Ole Miss in the strongest NIL position.
Personally, if Auburn does go after Kiffin, I don't think it knows the fight it will have on its hands. They won't be prepared. Dr. Boyce and Keith Carter are acutley aware of Kiffin's intrensic value to the university. And you don't let that walk out the front door, if things get that far. 😂 😂 😂
Ole Miss hosts Alabama in 10 days in one of the biggest games of the modern era Oxford has ever seen.
That is envious to others...as it should be.
