Pat McAfee begs Lane Kiffin, college football's top coaching candidate, to remain at Ole Miss

As LSU, Penn State and different powerhouse assemblage shot programs hunt for their adjacent caput coach, Ole Miss Rebels manager Lane Kiffin keeps coming up successful speculation.

Ex-NFL punter and existent ESPN property Pat McAfee is among those that don't privation Kiffin to adjacent deliberation astir leaving Oxford, Mississippi.

McAfee, the West Virginia University alum, was saying his portion connected ESPN’s "College GameDay" connected Saturday erstwhile the taxable of Kiffin came up.

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"College GameDay" sportscaster Pat McAfee connected acceptable earlier the crippled betwixt the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Texas Longhorns astatine Ohio Stadium successful Columbus, Ohio, connected Aug. 30, 2025. (Jason Mowry/Getty Images)

"I would similar to accidental if Lane Kiffin is listening…You’re allowed to beryllium blessed and content, brother," McAfee said. "You’re allowed to beryllium astatine a spot and person monolithic success. You’re allowed to physique a spot from scratch. You’re allowed to go a GOAT astatine a place. I deliberation there’s a feeling amongst a batch of coaches, like, ‘Hey, you got to get to this job, you got to get to this job.’"

The speculation accrued astir Kiffin to LSU aft it was reported that assemblage executives and diversion administrators had finalized presumption of a monolithic declaration connection for Kiffin, who has a vocation 115-53 grounds coaching successful assemblage shot betwixt Tennessee, USC, Florida Atlantic and Ole Miss. LSU parted ways with Brian Kelly aft 3 consecutive losses to ranked opponents earlier this season.

Ole Miss diversion manager Keith Carter, arsenic good arsenic assemblage chancellor Glenn Boyce, spoke Friday day with Kiffin to sermon his future. Carter issued a connection pursuing the meeting, yet saying that Kiffin’s aboriginal would beryllium decided adjacent Saturday pursuing the yearly Egg Bowl against Mississippi State. It marks the last regular-season crippled for the No. 6 Rebels.

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Just however overmuch is LSU consenting to springiness Kiffin, who owns a 54-19 grounds with the Rebels since taking implicit successful 2020? While declaration talks stay fluid, Yahoo Sports reported executives person discussed a seven-year pact filled with incentives and worthy astatine slightest $90 million.

That would marque Kiffin the highest-paid assemblage shot manager successful the country.

It’s besides worthy noting that LSU intends to committedness "significant NIL and gross stock roster investments exceeding $25 million," which would springiness Kiffin, 1 of the champion recruiters successful the country, immense resources to onshore apical endowment crossed the 50 states. NIL resources are important for coaches to enlistee the players indispensable to nutrient winning seasons successful today’s assemblage game.

Ole Miss Rebels caput manager Lane Kiffin speaks to the media during SEC Media Day astatine Omni Atlanta Hotel connected July 14, 2025. (Jordan Godfree/Imagn Images)

At the aforesaid time, Florida, which fired Billy Napier earlier this season, is hoping to lure Kiffin to Gainesville to reignite a programme hopeless to instrumentality to the apical of the assemblage shot rankings.

Now, some programs — and possibly others — are good alert that Kiffin has a bully happening going with the Rebels, who are poised for a spot successful the College Football Playoff this season. They volition proceed their owed diligence with different coaching targets, but Kiffin volition stay a apical campaigner until his determination is made.

It’s a pugnacious concern for the existent Rebels players, who are each warring to scope the CFP. Given the nationalist quality of Kiffin’s situation, McAfee understands what they’re going through.

When helium was with the Mountaineers, ex-coach Rich Rodriguez near WVU to spell to Michigan. While McAfee understands it from a player’s perspective, Rodriguez’s clip successful Ann Arbor didn’t beryllium fruitful.

Mississippi caput manager Lane Kiffin watches his squad play against Oklahoma during the archetypal fractional of an NCAA assemblage shot crippled successful Norman, Oklahoma, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)

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"RichRod went to Michigan. He’s backmost astatine West Virginia. If helium would person ne'er left, that feline astir apt has the full assemblage named aft him," McAfee said, adding to his statement for Kiffin to enactment enactment astatine Ole Miss.

It’s a agelong week up successful Oxford and astir assemblage shot arsenic everyone tunes successful to spot wherever Kiffin’s aboriginal lies.

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