ESPN insider Pete Thamel reveals 'only leverage' Ole Miss has on Lane Kiffin amid coaching rumors

The “will-he or won’t-he” drama around the uncertain future of Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, who is widely considered the No. 1 target at both Florida and LSU, continues to rage with no end in sight. This comes at a time when the sixth-ranked Rebels (10-1, 6-1 SEC) are in the thick of the College Football Playoff race.

Amid reports of a potential ultimatum or deadline of next week’s Egg Bowl for Kiffin to make a decision, which Kiffin has flatly denied, On3 insider Chris Low revealed Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter had a planned Friday meeting with Kiffin to reportedly provide some clarity on the 50-year-old coach’s thinking. Later Friday, Carter released a statement revealing an announcement on Kiffin’s future is expected Saturday, the day after next Friday’s Egg Bowl.

On3’s Pete Nakos reported Ole Miss “has been aggressive in offering Kiffin a lucrative package to stay in Oxford” on Friday, which would seemingly include a significant raise from his current $9 million salary this season. But as the Rebels players take off this weekend for its second bye of the season, the battle over where their head coach will be next season remains a difficult question to answer.

Which is why there’s a feeling Ole Miss could be utilizing Kiffin’s desire to continue coaching the Rebels through the upcoming Playoffs as its “only leverage,” according to ESPN insider Pete Thamel, even if that proves to be highly unlikely were Kiffin to accept a job elsewhere, be it at Florida or LSU.

“Lane Kiffin is clearly tortured by this, that’s the one thing that’s obviously apparent. And as time goes on, I think it’s becoming more obvious Lane Kiffin isn’t going to be able to do everything he wants here, which is both coach (Ole Miss) into the Playoff and explore those other high-profile opportunities (at Florida and LSU),” Thamel said on Friday’s The Paul Finebaum Show. “Those two things don’t appear to be feasible in concert, whether it’s an ultimatum or not or however it’s phrased. Doing both those appear to be difficult, and Ole Miss’ only leverage is (his desire) to coach out this season. So it is a fascinating conundrum, you can see every side of it, and I don’t think there’s much clarity because I don’t know if there’s really been any decisions made (yet).”

Earlier this week, Kiffin was repeatedly inundated by questions from reporters about his current situation at Ole Miss, including several directly asking if Kiffin expected to coach in next week’s Egg Bowl rivalry game vs. Mississippi State, which prompted an interesting response.

“Do you know something that I don’t know?” Kiffin responded curtly on Wednesday’s SEC Teleconference. “Do I expect to coach next week? Why would I not expect to coach next week? I mean, I expected to coach against Florida too. So I don’t even understand the question about how I would not expect to coach next week. Why would I (not) be at work?”