Ole Miss (7-1, 4-1 SEC) defeated No. 13 Oklahoma 34-26 on Saturday — a resume-boosting road win that pushed the Rebels up to No. 7 in the AP Top 25 rankings.
Trinidad Chambliss threw for 315 yards and one touchdown, adding another 53 rushing yards, while running back Kewan Lacy added two rushing scores in a balanced performance the team desperately needed after the previous week’s loss to Georgia.
More concretely, however, the big-time college football win triggered a new wave of rumors surrounding head coach Lane Kiffin’s future in Oxford, which Kiffin addressed on Monday’s episode of “The Pat McAfee Show.”
When McAfee asked how he deals with handling these types of rumors with the team, Kiffin had an interesting answer.
“Yeah, I usually don’t talk about it with the team,” he said. “We’ve dealt with this for a number of years because our players have performed really well and won a lot of games here. And so this attention has come with that.
“I just told them, ‘Hey, this is a product of how you guys play; they see the way that you play.’ So then, fans are like, ‘We want that system.’ But really, it’s the system of the players and the assistant coaches, and what a good job they do. So I just told them that’s a compliment to them,” Kiffin added. “And I think it’s easier for them nowadays because basically the same thing happens to them. Our freshman receiver has a good game, and by Saturday night, he’s got three calls from places telling him, ‘Hey, come here, we’ll give you more money’… So I don’t think it’s that big a deal to them.”
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Read More: David Pollack Has Clear Message for Lane Kiffin After Brian Kelly’s LSU Firing
Florida dismissed Billy Napier on Oct. 19 and LSU removed Brian Kelly on Sunday — two marquee SEC openings that immediately put established, over-performing coaches in the spotlight.
Kiffin’s name has consistently surfaced in such searches and is again near the top of many wish lists, partly because Ole Miss has become one of the conference’s most explosive offenses under his tenure in recent seasons.
Read More: David Pollack Gets Honest About Arch Manning, Texas After Mississippi State Win
Kiffin’s seventh win on Saturday activated a contractual extension reportedly worth roughly $9 million per year (about $7.2M guaranteed), keeping him under contract through the 2031 calendar year unless Ole Miss negotiates a buyout or a new deal — a practical barrier for any suitor.
While rumors continue to swirl, the fiscal realities of midseason hires, big buyouts (LSU and Penn State departures illustrate that), and the approaching early signing period all complicate any rapid move.