As of this morning, Auburn is still deep-researching both Lane Kiffin and Hugh Freeze. Per sources familiar with that search, John Cohen hasn't decided who is the top choice, though all signs point towards Kiffin. No offer has been extended to Kiffin, per multiple sources. However, there is an expectation an offer could come as early as late next week.
(As an aside, one person on the Auburn beat called the Auburn football offices yesterday to ask a recruiting guy there if he had seen Lane Kiffin there. He was following up on a rumor, he said, that Kiffin was IN AUBURN ON WEDNESDAY. I mean, come TF on. When that guy tells you he's on top of the search...)
Anyway, at this point, my expectation is Kiffin would likely accept Auburn's offer. Why? NIL. Simple as that. Kiffin believes Auburn has the NIL in place to be competitive and he thinks that in today's college football, that is the No. 1 thing (and maybe the only thing) that matters. He is concerned, per sources, that Ole Miss is so behind on NIL that not only will be it difficult to land players in a very competitive and expensive environment (including the portal) but that it will also be difficult to prevent his players from being poached.
Per my understanding, as of late yesterday, Ole Miss and Kiffin had not discussed his future here. A year ago, Ole Miss was pretty proactive, concerned Kiffin could be targeted by Florida, and got ahead of it. This year, that hasn't happened, at least not per a source this morning. The expectation at Ole Miss is if Kiffin is offered, Ole Miss will be given an opportunity to counter. I have no reason to doubt that. As I've said all along, Kiffin is getting a raise soon, one way or the other. Ole Miss can and will go as high as $10 million per year, per sourcing.
So again, as of this moment, Kiffin does not have an offer from Auburn. I do expect Auburn will choose Kiffin over Freeze (Freeze does also, per sources) and, as I said earlier in the week, Auburn is a very real threat as it pertains to Kiffin's future at Ole Miss.
More when I get it.
(As an aside, one person on the Auburn beat called the Auburn football offices yesterday to ask a recruiting guy there if he had seen Lane Kiffin there. He was following up on a rumor, he said, that Kiffin was IN AUBURN ON WEDNESDAY. I mean, come TF on. When that guy tells you he's on top of the search...)
Anyway, at this point, my expectation is Kiffin would likely accept Auburn's offer. Why? NIL. Simple as that. Kiffin believes Auburn has the NIL in place to be competitive and he thinks that in today's college football, that is the No. 1 thing (and maybe the only thing) that matters. He is concerned, per sources, that Ole Miss is so behind on NIL that not only will be it difficult to land players in a very competitive and expensive environment (including the portal) but that it will also be difficult to prevent his players from being poached.
Per my understanding, as of late yesterday, Ole Miss and Kiffin had not discussed his future here. A year ago, Ole Miss was pretty proactive, concerned Kiffin could be targeted by Florida, and got ahead of it. This year, that hasn't happened, at least not per a source this morning. The expectation at Ole Miss is if Kiffin is offered, Ole Miss will be given an opportunity to counter. I have no reason to doubt that. As I've said all along, Kiffin is getting a raise soon, one way or the other. Ole Miss can and will go as high as $10 million per year, per sourcing.
So again, as of this moment, Kiffin does not have an offer from Auburn. I do expect Auburn will choose Kiffin over Freeze (Freeze does also, per sources) and, as I said earlier in the week, Auburn is a very real threat as it pertains to Kiffin's future at Ole Miss.
More when I get it.
