![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763490070_593_schlabach_mark.png&h=80&w=80&scale=crop.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Mark SchlabachNov 18, 2025, 12:58 PM ET<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Senior college football writer OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss<\/a> coach Lane Kiffin on Tuesday denied he has been given an ultimatum from the administration to make a decision about his future with the Rebels.<\/p>\n Kiffin, who has guided Ole Miss to a 10-1 record this season, is believed to be the top candidate for coaching vacancies at both Florida<\/a> and LSU<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Yeah, that’s absolutely not true,” Kiffin told “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN. “There’s been no ultimatum, anything like that at all. And so I don’t know where that came from, like a lot of stuff that comes out there. Like I said, man, we’re having a blast. I love it here.”<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks<\/p>\n 2 Related<\/p>\n However, sources told ESPN on Tuesday that Ole Miss officials are pressing Kiffin and his agent, Jimmy Sexton, for a resolution. Athletics director Keith Carter has asked for Kiffin to reach a decision by this upcoming weekend, sources said.<\/p>\n The sources stopped short of calling it an ultimatum, but they added that Carter and others want an answer so they can prepare for the postseason, a potential coaching transition before the CFP and a search to identify Kiffin’s replacement if he leaves.<\/p>\n Sources confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday that Kiffin’s ex-wife, Layla, son, Knox, and his brother Chris Kiffin’s son visited Gainesville, Florida, on Sunday.<\/p>\n Layla Kiffin, who lives in Oxford, visited Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the next day with other family members, according to sources.<\/p>\n Ole Miss officials have made it clear to Kiffin and Sexton that the Rebels would match any contract offer the Gators and Tigers might make, the sources told ESPN.<\/p>\n Kiffin, who has an annual salary of $9 million and another $2.6 million in potential bonuses, was the 10th-highest paid in the FBS this season. He is the fifth-highest paid in the SEC this season, behind Georgia<\/a>‘s Kirby Smart ($13.3 million), Texas<\/a>‘ Steve Sarkisian ($10.8 million), Alabama<\/a>‘s Kalen DeBoer ($10.3 million) and former LSU coach Brian Kelly ($10.2 million).<\/p>\n The Tigers fired Kelly on<\/a> Oct. 26 after his teams compiled a 34-14 record in three-plus seasons.<\/p>\n The Gators fired coach Billy Napier<\/a> on Oct. 19 after his teams went 22-23 in four seasons.<\/p>\n The Rebels, who are No. 7 in the CFP rankings heading into Tuesday night’s update reveal, close the regular season against Mississippi State<\/a> in the Nov. 28 Egg Bowl (12 p.m. ET, ABC) in Starkville.<\/p>\n Kiffin, 50, has guided the Rebels to a 54-19 record in his sixth season. Ole Miss won at least 10 games for the fourth time in the past five seasons, the most successful stretch in the program’s history.<\/p>\n If the Rebels defeat Mississippi State on Black Friday, they would be in position to host a first-round CFP contest in Oxford on Dec. 19 or 20.<\/p>\n
\nAuthor of seven books on college football
\nGraduate of the University of Georgia<\/p>\n