Dan Wetzel states Lane Kiffin leaving Ole Miss early for another job would be 'unbelievably stunning'

Lane Kiffin is weighing whether to return to Ole Miss, or take over at LSU or Florida at the moment. It may be too good of an opportunity to pass up for the longtime head coach, but ESPN’s Dan Wetzel believes leaving this iteration of the Rebels would be a major mistake for him. 

If Kiffin does take the job at an SEC rival, he likely won’t be able to see this team’s hunt for a national title through. Ranked firmly inside the College Football Playoff and on-par with the top teams in the nation, the Rebels could go all the way in 2025. Wetzel thinks it’s too good of an opportunity to let slip through his fingers, even if it means Kiffin would miss out on the chance to jet for the Gators or the Tigers.

“If Lane Kiffin does not sign a deal and says, ‘I’m leaving. I’m going to walk.’ Let’s say he says, ‘Nah, I’m going to leave. I’m going to Florida.’ But he knows that he has to walk out on the best team that he’s ever coached? What the heck are we saying about Lane Kiffin?” Wetzel proposed, via the ESPN College GameDay Podcast.

“I mean, quitting on a potential Final Four team, national championship team. What kind of coach are you that you just say, ‘I have to leave this team where I can compete for a national title,’ to go somewhere else where I might be able to compete for a national title. 

“This would be an unbelievably stunning stepaway. It’d say an enormous amount to many people. People will apologize for it. People will be for it, I don’t care. What the heck, you’re quitting the team. It’d be no different than if Trinidad Chambliss said, ‘I’m quitting the team to prepare for the NFL Draft.’ People would lose their minds.

So, if that ultimatum is set up that way, and Lane Kiffin walks, that’s a trainwreck. How do you even go back to your players the next year at the next place and say to them, ‘We’re all in. Brotherhood. All for one.’ How do you do that? As a coach — are you a coach, or are you chasing money? Like, that’s crazy.”

While coaches leave good situations for better ones all of the time, Kiffin’s certainly a unique bird. Money doesn’t seem to be everything to him at the moment, and the chance to win a title at Ole Miss is too good to pass up. Still, this might be his lone shot at taking over a program like Florida or LSU. 

In the end, it’ll be up to Kiffin to determine what’s more important to him — competing for a national title with this year’s Ole Miss squad, or taking the money, status and everything that comes with coaching in Gainesville or Baton Rouge. There’s no simple answer, that’s for sure — even if Wetzel thinks it’s a no brainer.