LSU is expected to hire Lane Kiffin from Ole Miss on Sunday with a lucrative offer to make him one of the highest-paid coaches in the sport, ESPN reported early Sunday morning.
Kiffin had said that he would decide on Saturday whether to stay in Oxford, Miss., or accept another offer for the 2026 season, but no announcement came. Both ESPN and The Athletic reported that Kiffin will meet with Ole Miss players Sunday at 10 a.m. ET followed by an announcement with his decision.
LSU reportedly has offered Kiffin a seven-year deal worth approximately $100 million. That would put his salary above that of Georgia’s Kirby Smart, the highest-paid college coach at $13.3 million a year, and represent a significant increase over the $9 million Kiffin now makes, according to the USA Today coaches salary database.
Both reports said LSU is very confident that Kiffin will be coming to Baton Rouge, La.
Kiffin, 50, has led the Rebels to an 11-1 record and a probable berth in the 12-team College Football Playoff, whether he is their coach or not. Ole Miss officials reportedly don’t want Kiffin coaching the team for the playoffs, which start Dec. 19, if he’s not the coach in 2026.
Ole Miss missed an opportunity to play in the Southeastern Conference championship game against No. 4 Georgia when No. 10 Alabama held on to beat Auburn 27-20 on Saturday night.
In six seasons at Ole Miss, Kiffin has a 55-19 record (.743) that has attracted the attention and deep pockets of SEC rivals LSU and Florida — both of which fired their coaches in October.
Speculation over whether Kiffin will jump to the Tigers or the Gators has reached soap-operatic proportions over the last month, but Kiffin promised to bring the storyline to a conclusion on Saturday. He also claimed, as of Friday afternoon, not to know which school he’ll pick.
There are reports, however, that Florida has moved out of range and has its eye on other candidates, operating with the belief that Kiffin is not as interested in the Gators as the Rebels or Tigers.
More than a week ago, Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter gave Kiffin a Nov. 29 deadline to make a decision. Now that Kiffin has led the Rebels to the first 11-win regular season in the school’s 120 seasons, he has become an even hotter commodity. Carter and chancellor Glenn Boyce reportedly met at the chancellor’s home in Oxford on Saturday without a resolution announced.
–Field Level Media
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