Lane Kiffin opens up on how he handles job links at Florida, LSU, others during season

Lane Kiffin opened up on how he deals with job rumors when addressing his players at Ole Miss. The Rebels are 7-1, near the top of the SEC and in the College Football Playoff conversation, but that’s not the biggest topic.

Right now, Kiffin appears to be the No. 1 target for job openings at Florida and now LSU. Both schools fired Billy Napier and Brian Kelly over the last week-plus.

“I usually don’t talk about it with the team, because we’ve dealt with this for a number of years, because our players have performed really well and won a lot of games here,” Kiffin said on The Pat McAfee Show. “And so this attention has come with that. I just thought last week, it was important late in the week to address it on Friday, just because we have so many new players so they hadn’t been here, you know, last year or the year before that, where, you know, these, these job rumors and stuff would come up. 

“And so I just told them, ‘Hey, this is a product of how you guys play.’ So then people are like, fans (say) ‘we want that system.’ And they say, ‘coach,’ 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, and I think it’s easier for them nowadays, because remember, basically the same thing happens to them. They have a good game. What happens? You know, our freshman receiver has a good game Saturday night. He’s got three calls from places to him, ‘Hey, come here. We’ll give you more money.’ You know, pre-portaling, you know, before the portal that’s what happens.” 

Kiffin knows his players are sought after, as he is. It’s the reality of college football which is basically free agency every year for players and even coaches.

“And so they deal with this all the time, places saying, ‘Oh, come here, you’ll get more money,’ because they’re performing well,” Kiffin said. “So I don’t think it’s a big deal to them.”

Kiffin has been likened to Steve Spurrier with the way he coaches, acts and is a more in your face type of personality. Thus, he’s a perfect fit in Gainesville to coach the Gators right?

Kiffin isn’t focused on that right now, just his team. In fact, he also said this decision won’t be about money. So, perhaps Ole Miss is the right spot and has been for a long time.