Joel Klatt dismisses notion that Lane Kiffin can't win national title at Ole Miss

Lane Kiffin will decide where he coaches college football next season on Saturday. All signs point toward him either staying at Ole Miss, or making the jump to LSU.

Kiffin just led the Rebels to an 11-win regular season and have the College Football Playoff looming. Despite being in contention for a national championship, Kiffin may not be a part of that effort if he chooses to jump ship.

Ahead of his decision being made public, FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt sent a strong message to Kiffin urging him to stay put. Klatt explained why during an appearance on Big Noon Kickoff on Saturday morning.

“This notion that he has to go to LSU in order to win the national title, I think, is false,” Klatt said. “And in modern college football, you can build a winner basically anywhere. He’s proving it at Ole Miss. Indiana is proving it with Curt Cignetti.

“So, coach, you want to win a national championship? Then look in the mirror because it’s right in front of you right now at Ole Miss.”

The playing field has evened with NIL and the transfer portal, and coaches at schools like Missouri with Eli Drinkwitz and Vanderbilt with Clark Lea have locked their respective head coaches down long-term. They each had opportunities to move on to jobs that are considered more attractive on paper. They chose to continue building their programs instead.

At the same time, Kiffin has been given a deadline for the decision that is less than ideal. Right before the playoffs and at the same time as the new one-time transfer portal window.

“Listen, the calendar is certainly an issue. There’s no doubt about that, and it’s broken and it needs to be fixed, and we understand that. But that’s not an excuse,” Klatt continued. “And guys like Dan Lanning and Mike Elko and Rhett Lashlee and Curt Cignetti, they have not used the calendar as an excuse to stay in their places in the middle of a playoff run.

“And here’s the thing, guys, he certainly has the right to go wherever he wants. There’s no doubt, but your currency as a coach is your credibility in front of your team and in recruiting. And I just wonder, moving forward, in front of his team, asking them for commitment and buy in, will he have the credibility if he makes this move?”

Only time will tell. Kiffin himself said there was no timeline for his decision on Saturday, so we’ll all be waiting on the edge of our seats throughout rivalry weekend.